


Things We Lost In the Fire

by winryofresembool



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Because yes, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, angsty backgrounds, except that the enemies part is short, history student calypso, human!calypso, mechanical engineer student leo, no greek gods involved, sort of enemies to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 59,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winryofresembool/pseuds/winryofresembool
Summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out...
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 188
Kudos: 150





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here it is! My second multichapter fic! And naturally Caleo this time. I've been reading a lot of Caleo fics on ffn (yes, the rival site) and it occurred to me that there are too few au:s of these two, and somehow this idea just started forming in my head. A huge shoutout to criis55 on tumblr for helping me brainstorm this fic (and also betaing), you have definitely played a BIG role in helping me write this fic! 
> 
> So, as the tags let you know, you should expect flatmates Caleo who first don't exactly like each other (much like in canon), but they learn to respect and love each other with time. The first chapters are gonna be rather light but things will get darker as the story progresses; I already have some big plans for the ending.
> 
> I currently have 7 chapters finished for this fic, with a lot more to come, so for a time being I can promise weekly updates. If I have to change that in the future, I will let you guys know!
> 
> But now, enjoy, and please, please, let me know what you think because I feel it's especially important to keep me motivated with a multichapter fic! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Rick Riordan may own the characters but I own the right to make Calypso nicer in my fic. (Maybe not in the first chapter, though)

‘Finally. My own home.’

Calypso exhaled sharply as she put her suitcase down. She took in her surroundings; it was a small student flat for two with two bedrooms and a shared living room/kitchen and bathroom, but to her that small, simple place meant freedom. For too many years she had struggled to get freed from her parents’ strict supervision, and now she had finally done it. A brand new town, a new place to live, new university, new flatma…

“Don’t worry amigo, I’ll be right back!” she heard a voice say from the room that had already been claimed. Before she had time to react, a young man with curly black hair, elfish ears, and… no shirt came into view. Before she turned her eyes away, she couldn’t help but notice that even though the boy was short (not much taller than her despite her being only a bit over 160 cm) and kind of scrawny, his arms looked strong, like he had done a lot of heavy lifting. She didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on these facts, though, before he acknowledged her presence:

“Wh-whoa, hi! Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here!”

He folded his arms over his chest, trying to cover his torso a bit with his arms, a dirty shirt bundled in one of his hands, but other than that he seemed fairly unbothered by his current outfit (or lack thereof).

“Uh, yeah, I just came in,” Calypso muttered, looking down. “I suppose you’re my new flatmate.”

“Oh, right! I am! I was wondering when someone would move in. I’m Leo. Leo Valdez.” The boy grinned widely as he extended his free hand for her to shake, which made her even more flustered, but she still took it.

“You can call me Calypso,” she said with as calm voice as she could manage, forcing her eyes to focus her on his face and pulling her hand back.

“That’s… an unusual name. It’s like the music style!” he answered, tapping his forehead with his fingers as he tried to remember something. “Or… that nymph or whatever she was in the Greek mythology…”

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot.” Calypso rolled her eyes, calming down thanks to a familiar topic. “Ironically, I’m a history major and I’ve been studying the Greek mythology a lot, so I’m definitely aware of that myth. As a matter of fact, I’ve always found her a pretty relatable character. She was simply a victim of circumstances…”

Leo seemed a bit taken aback by her challenging tone, not daring to ask what she meant by her last comment.

“I haven’t really thought about it that much,” he shrugged. “Always been more interested in the mechanical side of things.”

“I figured as much,” she said, the annoyance winning in her and making her take a judging eye on his form, now noticing for example plenty of scars (almost like healed burn marks?) and oil smudges from something he had been fixing on his bare skin. “How do you know about that story anyway?” she asked out of curiosity. From her experience, not many boys of her age immediately drew the connection between her name and the Greek mythology.

“My old baby sitter was loca about that stuff. Instead of telling me about Goldilocks and three bears, she told me bedtime stories about Odysseus,” Leo answered. Calypso was slightly disappointed. Of course he had had someone else tell that story to him instead of him being genuinely interested…

“Right. Makes sense,” she said.

Ignoring Calypso’s tone, Leo decided to try another topic: “I think I hear a hint of accent in your voice. Not from here?”

“No. I’m originally from Greece, if you must know,” Calypso answered coolly. 

“Hey, what’s with that tone?” Leo had finally had enough, and he narrowed his eyes. Calypso noticed “I only asked because I’m part Mexican so I’m bilingual too. Spanish is my first language.”  
“I see. And about my tone, you must be overthinking it,” Calypso claimed, but there was still an edge in her voice that Leo couldn’t ignore. 

“What’s the matter with… ugh. Never mind.” He raised his arms in defeat. “I tell you what. I have things to do now, but when you’re ready to talk about the rules of this household or whatever, you can find me in my room.” He opened the bathroom door, dropped the dirty shirt into a laundry basket and grabbed a clean one before pulling it on. Then he disappeared into his room as fast as he had appeared from there. 

When Calypso was alone, she sighed, overwhelmed by the meeting. She hadn’t meant to be so rude but something about that Leo guy irked her (maybe it was the way he talked, the kind of cocky attitude or the fire in his eyes that told her he was ready for a challenge) and… if she was honest, she had wished her new roommate was a girl instead. Back when she still had lived at home, she had been in a couple of relationships where things had gone very wrong, yet she also had an unfortunate habit of getting crushes rather easily… and then this guy had shown up that way, not even minding that he was shirtless in the company of a girl he didn’t know. 

Trying to shake the image out of her head, she finally opened the door to her new room and moved her luggage there. There was already a bed there, along with an empty bookshelf and a closet for the clothes. However, the previous user of the room had informed the caretakers that the desk that belonged to the room was in a bad shape and they hadn’t brought a new one yet so Calypso had volunteered to bring her own. She would probably have to ask Leo to help her carry it, because it wasn’t like she knew a lot of other people here yet, and he had seemed pretty strong…

Groaning at herself (‘you will NOT get a crush on a new flatmate. Especially not someone so annoying’), Calypso put her clothes from the suitcase into the closet and then braced herself to meet Leo again. After taking a deep breath, she knocked on his door and waited for it to open. Again, the boy told someone ‘wait there’ before he opened the door, this time with a slight frown on his face. 

“Yes?” he asked.

Twitching her hands, Calypso stammered: “Umm… Can we forget about the earlier for a bit? I… I should carry my desk from my car to my room but obviously I can’t do it on my own and I came here alone so… I kinda need help with that. Can you help me?”

Leo’s expression softened, a crooked smile spreading on his face instead. 

“Oh! Sure, I’ll help.” 

“Thanks. Do you have time now?” 

“Yep, I was just hanging out with…” he hesitated, “um, with a certain mechanical project I’m building. Let’s go then.” 

…

“You were talking to your project?” Calypso asked with disbelief as the new flatmates were walking towards her car.

“You heard that?” Leo asked, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well, some people talk to flowers, how is that any different?” he replied defensively.

“Well, for one, flowers are actually alive,” Calypso, who loved gardening and had brought several plants with her to the new apartment as well, stated. 

“You wouldn’t believe how alive some machines can feel…” Leo muttered, more to himself than to her. But then they were already at Calypso’s car so they dropped the topic as they tried to decide how they were going to carry the desk inside.

The carrying part went fine, mostly in silence. The desk wasn’t too heavy or wide so they got it into their flat’s common area without issues. But as Leo waited while Calypso went back to get more of her things inside, the door to his room (that he had left unlocked for a moment) suddenly swung open and he had no time to react to what was about to happen. 

“Festus! No!”

A huge German shepherd appeared, very excited to get out of his prison and running and jumping back and forth in the space that had just opened up for him. Not realizing his own weight, he jumped on Calypso’s desk to get Leo’s full attention. The flimsy desk couldn’t handle the impact, the top board splitting into two pieces, and in the process the dog’s tail also whipped the sole flower resting on the desk on the ground, so when Calypso returned back into the room she found quite a chaos in front of her.

“What… happened?” was all she could say, her hand resting on the left side of her chest near her heart. Then she spotted the dog, who looked kind of ashamed if that was possible, and quickly turned to his owner with fiery eyes.

“Explain.”

Usually Leo would have made a joke in a situation like this, but Calypso looked way too scary for him to attempt that. “I’m sorry… I… tried to keep him inside my room but somehow he escaped and…”

“You’re not even supposed to have pets here!” Calypso shouted.

“He’s just visiting for a couple of days! I didn’t know you were coming, I would have asked you if you’re allergic if I had…”

“I’m not! But that’s not the point! The point is that your dog broke the only piece of furniture that I brought here and also ruined my favorite flower that I’ve been growing for years!” She pointed at the shattered flowerpot on the ground. 

“I can fix the top of the desk!” Leo offered quickly. “That’s an easy job, I just get a new board and…”

“Right now I just want you out of my sight so I can clean this,” Calypso growled, gesturing towards the mess on the floor. “And make sure that thing won’t go near my things again.”

“Are you telling me to leave my own place?” It was Leo’s turn to get mad. “I have the same right to be here as you do!”

“I just meant that stay out of my way while I take care of this. Just… go to your room or something,” she said defiantly. 

“C’mon, Festus,” Leo told his dog, taking his harness from his room. “Let’s go for a walk. Miss Sunshine clearly doesn’t want our help so why bother.”

When the two were gone, Calypso sat down on the couch in the common room and buried her head into her hands. This was not how she had wanted her first day in her new place to go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo visits his new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, chapter 2! This chapter was a lot of fun to write because of Leo's pov! For those who may not have read The Dark Prophecy, Jo and Emmie basically adopt Leo and Calypso and Leo even says Jo reminds him of his mom at one point :') So I wanted to include that to this story! Also, to be clear about this, Leo still lives in the same town with them but wanted some independence once he started uni so he moved into a flat a year before the events of this story. 
> 
> Thanks to Cris again for helping me out when I needed it the most! Now, enough rambling, please enjoy this chapter and remember that feedback would really be loved because otherwise it's hard to motivate myself to continue this story!

Festus barked happily as he and his owner drove to the familiar yard of Waystation. For 4 years, Leo had had the honor of calling this place his home, and even now that he was already 19, he was still as happy to go there as in the first time after finding out that the two wonderful ladies living there would be adopting him. For the first time in 7 years he had felt he belonged somewhere. He had never met his biological father, and after his mother’s death (about which he still did not want to talk) he had been going from foster home to foster home, occasionally running away and living in the streets because the families did /not/ understand him. Not even his own relatives had accepted him. 

Finally, his road had brought him to Indianapolis where he had sort of by accident met a family of two elderly women, Josephine and Hemethea (or as Leo knew them, Jo and Emmie), and their adopted daughter Georgina. It had been the happiest accident of his life; somehow the women knew exactly how to handle a troubled and traumatized 15-year-old. As an added bonus, Josephine was just as interested in mechanics as he was, and she had taught him a lot. The now 10-year-old Georgina called Leo her brother and when he was home, she followed him everywhere. Festus, whom Leo had gotten as an 18th birthday present, liked Waystation too: it offered him way more space to run around than the student flat in New York. 

The brown haired girl was already waiting for Leo by the door when he got there, and even though she was almost as tall as Leo was (Leo claimed he had gotten his short genes from his nonexistent father), he scooped her into his arms and swung her around a few times. The girl giggled excitedly until she wanted to get back on the ground to pet Festus. Leo complied and soon he was surrounded by his adoptive mothers, both gray haired and strong built for their age. They were worried about whether Leo remembered to eat now that he was living on his own because he was so skinny (“I’m an excellent cook, Jo! Stop worrying!”), but secretly he was happy about the attention he got.

Eventually the family settled down and started asking Leo questions about how things were going outside home. He told them everything from his most recent mechanic job to his upcoming courses in the mechanical engineering program, but conveniently he avoided mentioning his new flatmate. Of course his mothers noticed that and looked at each other significantly before asking:  
“So, it’s been a while since Jason moved away. Any word on a new flatmate yet?”

Leo did not know what force made him blush (he liked to think he did not blush often), but he did. The thought of his infuriating, annoying, rude… beautiful (he quickly pushed that thought away) flatmate seemed to cause that kind of reaction a little too often for his liking. They had known each other only for a few days and already she was driving him nuts in more than one way. She was arrogant. She seemed to think she was better than him (which, mind you, Leo was not disagreeing with because his self loathing still occasionally got the better of him despite the therapy and his mothers’ attempts to talk to him). She managed to make an argument about the smallest of things and good gods, that girl was still angry about the desk even though he had offered to fix it. What could he do in a situation like that? 

But the years as a runaway had also taught Leo to interpret people pretty well, and he sensed that there was something much more under that hard cover that Calypso was holding up. Something fragile and soft that he simply couldn’t reach yet. When she thought Leo didn’t notice, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes that felt very familiar to him even though he couldn’t put a name on it. And damn it if she wasn’t the prettiest girl he had seen at the university campus with that caramel colored hair and dark mysterious eyes. Not that he’d admit that to her. Ever.

He was so distracted by his thoughts he only realized he still hadn’t answered to the question until he felt the burning gazes directed at him.

“Uh… yeah! I do have a new flatmate now,” he finally admitted. The blush seemed to persistently stay on his cheeks. 

Instead of asking directly who that mysterious person was, Emmie decided to take a different approach. “Oh… That’s nice, isn’t it? To have someone to remind you to actually go to your lectures and not work 24/7?” There was a hint of warning in her tone; she did know that Leo was still processing a lot in his head, and when things got particularly overwhelming, he tended to drown his feelings into his work and forget to rest. Which, Emmie supposed, was still better than the experiments he had done as a 15-year-old before they finally managed to help him, but at this rate he might burn out some day. There was a lot of fire inside him, she knew, but if he didn’t remember to turn it off, he wouldn’t last long.

Leo didn’t agree with her. “It’s… she’s not that kind of person. She doesn’t really talk to me a lot anyway.”

“She?” Jo asked curiously. Among other things, she was aware of Leo’s soft spot for pretty girls. That would certainly explain why he was blushing and acting grumpy when asked questions about her.

“Focus on the relevant things, Josephine.” Leo usually called Josephine and Hemethea with their nicknames instead of ‘mother’ or ‘mom’ because he wanted to save that word for his dead mother. But when he wanted to let his adoptive mothers know he was unhappy with them, he sometimes used the full name. “I was gonna say that when she does talk to me she usually likes to argue, and it’s super frustrating.”

“Alright, spit it out,” Jo said in her direct manner. “What did you do to the poor girl to madden her so?”

“Hey!” Leo protested, offended that she would think it was all his fault. “Who said I did anything? I didn’t! Well…” he finally gave in, “Festus did… but it wasn’t his fault, the desk was flimsy!”

“Flimsy desk? Please elaborate.”

“We carried Calypso’s desk,” Leo swallowed, realizing he said her name aloud for the first time, and it tasted weirdly good in his mouth. Even though he was mad at her. Which he definitely was. “… into our flat but I left my door unlocked for a moment so Festus got out of my room and… he may have jumped on it,” he finished sheepishly. 

“Oh,” Emmie said understandingly. “But you’re a handy young man; did you not offer to fix it?”

“I did!” Leo grunted. “But she didn’t accept my offer!”

Emmie looked at him thoughtfully. “I don’t know her but maybe she was simply too proud to accept your help. She doesn’t know you yet so she doesn’t know how good you are at fixing and tuning things. But trust me; I’m sure she’ll be more than happy when she sees what Leo Valdez is capable of.”

Leo had to admit that the older woman had pulled from exactly the right strings. That was how you encouraged him to do something. 

“Fine,” he nodded finally. “I’ll see what I can do when I go back.”

“Anyway,” Jo smirked slyly. “Tell us more about this Calypso! What does she study? What does she look like?”

“She’s a history nerd and she smells like some spice you often put into your bakings… hold on… cinnamon! But…”

Leo saw his mothers’ expressions and immediately stopped when he realized he had said too much. “That’s it, tía Jo, I know what you’re thinking and I’m saying no. Georgie, Festus, let’s go to play or something. These two seem to have gotten some weird ideas…” He shook his head as he gestured the two to follow him. 

When the trio had left the room, the elderly couple burst into laughter. It would definitely be interesting to see what Leo’s story with his new flatmate would develop into, they concluded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso gets a new friend and notices that maybe her flatmate isn't that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to introduce Annabeth! I will slowly be adding more of the familiar characters, in the next chapter there will be more (but who, may that remain a secret for another week). 
> 
> As usual, thanks to my friend Cris for betaing! And thanks to everyone who's been commenting, know that your comments really have motivated me to continue this fic! Please keep them coming :)
> 
> And now, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

It was the morning of Calypso’s first day at the university. The first week would mostly be orientation, meaning getting to know her fellow students, the professors, the campus, her program and so on a bit better. She was feeling quite nervous because aside from Leo she hadn’t really met other students living in the area yet, and if she was honest with herself, her friend making skills weren’t the best. Due to the circumstances at her home, she had never had a close friend, and her relationships tended to end after a couple of months for various reasons. But this was finally a good chance to find other people interested in the same topics as she was, and she didn’t want to blow it up.

As she was making herself breakfast, her roommate showed up and sat down on a chair next to her, leaning his chin against the backrest. His fingers were tapping against the hard wood of the table like Calypso had already seen them do a few times in the past few days. The boy never seemed to be able to sit still.

“First day in this university, huh?” Leo asked. “You nervous?”

“What do you want?” Calypso asked suspiciously, not answering his question. She wasn’t feeling like opening up about her nervousness to this boy who for some reason made her feel even more restless. It was almost as if his nervous energy was contagious.

“Listen,” Leo started, now looking at her directly and stopping the tapping for a moment. “I know we haven’t exactly started off great, but we’re still going to be living together for a while so I thought we should at least be even. So. I fixed your desk.”

“I don’t want to owe you anything,” Calypso said matter-of-factly.

“You’re not owing me!” Leo exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air for a bigger impact. “I… well, Festus, but it was my fault… broke it so I thought it was the appropriate thing to do. But if you are too proud to…” His voice started to rise a bit. He had not expected Calypso to be that stubborn.

“Okay,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder briefly to stop his rambling. “I’ll accept it. Thanks. I guess.”

“Not exactly the reaction I was expecting but I’ll accept it,” he mocked her tone and earned an angry look from Calypso. “I was hoping for something more like ‘thank you so much, my favorite roomie, you’re the best!’” To avoid another lash from her, he quickly changed the subject: “Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that we should probably take weekly turns with cleaning the common area, like I did with Jason. I can take this week if you want to.”

“No, I can take it.” Calypso said with a tone that meant this won’t be discussed further.

“Is there anything you can’t make an argument about, Miss Sunshine?” Leo stared at her with frustration while his hands were reaching for the chips from a bag he had left on the dining table the other day.

“You make it rather easy, Valdez. Also, who eats chips for breakfast?” She shook her head with disapproval. “Manners,” she mumbled under her breath before turning to put the milk back into the fridge. “Now, I’d like to finish my breakfast so if you excuse me…”

She took her bowl of cereals and an orange with her into her room and closed the door behind her.

…

“Don’t forget to get your books for next week, we’re already going to start with…” A professor announced at the end of his long lecture. The rest of his speech was drowned by the sound of the students starting to get up and collect their stuff to leave the class.

“When I signed up for this, I was not expecting them to have full blown lectures on the first day,” a blonde girl behind Calypso noted. Unlike Calypso, who felt overwhelmed by the amount of information she had just received, the other girl seemed almost bored as if she already knew everything they had been told.

“Yeah, me neither,” Calypso admitted, realizing that the girl was talking to her. “But I guess that’s university for you…”

“Right,” the blonde agreed. “Anyway, what’s your name? I don’t know anyone in this group yet but I’d like to change that.”

“Oh! I’m Calypso. Calypso Astal,” she gave the girl her hand to shake. “You can call me Cal, though…”

The other girl took it and shook it firmly. “Annabeth Chase. I’m actually an architect student but I’m also interested in history so I decided to make it my minor subject. I guess that means I’ll be seeing you a lot this semester!”

“Oh, that’s cool!” Calypso exclaimed. “I like drawing too but I doubt I would actually be good enough to design buildings.”

“There’s a lot that you need to take into account when designing,” Annabeth agreed, “but practice makes perfect.” As the girls passed a window that showed them the beautiful old main building of their university, she gestured at it and added: “One day I’d love to design something that will make people stop and say ‘hey, did you know this building was designed by none other than Annabeth Chase?’”

“To be honest, I haven’t thought that far,” Calypso admitted. “This is all still so new to me, I’ve been…” She decided she didn’t want to reveal her home circumstances to someone she had just met so she changed her approach: “well, there’s a lot I still want to experience so I have not devoted myself to just one path yet. I came here because I needed to get away, and history was an easy choice because I’ve always been interested in it. I still don’t picture myself researching the past events for the rest of my life.”

Annabeth nodded understandingly. “I think a lot of people of our age feel that way. My boyfriend… Well, now he’s having a swimming career but we both know that isn’t gonna last forever so I’ve been trying to get him to think of other possibilities for when he no longer feels the passion for competing. But he doesn’t see it the same way, he says I always plan too much ahead. Which I guess may be partially true,” she chuckled and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, feeling she may have revealed a bit too much.

“Yeah. I like to go with a similar ‘go with the flow’ attitude as well.” In her head Calypso added: ‘because of what happened at home’.

“Anyway,” Annabeth decided to change the topic when she noticed Calypso had gone quiet. “This is a bit of a random question, but are you familiar with this town yet?”

“No, not yet.” Calypso shook her head. “I moved here only a week ago.”

“In that case, would you like me to show around some day?” Annabeth asked, opening her phone calendar. “I’d have time for example tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure, that would be great!” Calypso said. “Definitely beats listening to my roommate’s tinkering all day long.”

“Tinkering? You wouldn’t happen to be flatmates with Leo Valdez?” Annabeth connected the dots. The campus wasn’t that big and he had heard some stories through her boyfriend about one very enthusiastic mechanic.

“Unfortunately, I am. How did you know?” Calypso asked curiously.

“Oh, he has a bit of a reputation here,” Annabeth said mischievously. When Calypso looked at her suspiciously, she added: “I’m just kidding, my boyfriend is good friends with one guy named Jason who used to be Leo’s flatmate. I’ve never met him but I did keep hearing that he was constantly building something in his room. And also, Leo likes making a number of himself so he has put plenty of flashy ads on the uni bulletin boards telling about his mechanic business.”

“I guess I should have known that,” Calypso facepalmed.

“You don’t seem to like him very much, do you?” Annabeth asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Um…” Calypso wasn’t sure why she was revealing all this to a stranger, but it just felt right. “Our chemistry just… isn’t working. We’re very different and…” She tried to think of other reasons for their issues, which turned out to be harder than she expected. She realized that she didn’t really know him yet. “Uh, his dog broke my desk on the day I moved in and I’ve been mad at him ever since. He did apologize but… something about his attitude irks me. I don’t even know what it is.”

Annabeth’s mouth curled up a bit in amusement. She wanted to say that sounded a lot like her relationship with her boyfriend Percy had started. “That happens sometimes. Maybe… give him another chance, though. I mean, I don’t really know him or anything but sometimes the first impressions aren’t the best ones. You haven’t been living together for a long time yet, so there’s probably a lot you don’t know about him.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I feel kind of silly for complaining about that to a stranger. But thanks for listening!”

“No problem! Listen, I should get going now because I have a meeting with some architect friends but I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah! You bet!”

The girls quickly exchanged their phone numbers before separating to their own ways. As Calypso was walking towards her flat, though, she felt a small smile spread on her face. Maybe she had just made her first friend.

..

When Calypso got inside, to her surprise she found her broken desk waiting for her near her room. Only, it wasn’t broken anymore. She had wondered where it had disappeared after the incident but hadn’t really given it too much thought considering the state of the desk, thinking that Leo might have taken it to a recycling center or something. However, it turned out he had done a lot more than that. The broken board had been replaced with a new one and he had also sandpapered the surface, painted it and varnished it so it looked better than it had looked when it was brand new. Calypso could only stare with an open mouth at the fine job he had done. Once she had finally recovered from the surprise a bit, she yelled:

“Valdez!”

“¿Sí?” he peeked from his room, not sure what to expect. To his surprise, he saw the first genuine smile he had seen on her face.

“Would you like to help me to carry this into my room?” she asked in a friendly manner, still smiling. Leo took that as a win and agreed to help.

When they were done, Calypso did another thing that surprised both herself and him: she gently touched his arm and said: “Thanks. It looks good. And I mean it.”

“Leo Valdez, always ready to help.” He made a silly bowing gesture that made Calypso snort. 

“You know, maybe you’re not quite so bad after all.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time,” he said, but there were no ill feelings behind his words. 

“Now go before I change my mind,” Calypso said playfully. Leo gave her his signature grin and as he left the room, he felt he had finally managed to crack her cover a bit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo makes a deal with Piper and Jason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to introduce more characters! I'm currently reading The Burning Maze (yeah, wish me luck) so I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling for Jason and Piper more than before and that will probably show in this fic too. But worry not, no body is dying in my story (yet). Anyways, I had a lot of fun with this chapter and Leo's pov and I hope it shows! As usual, thanks to the lovely Cris for noticing my silly mistakes! Feedback would be really loved as it's the only way for me to know what you guys think of this (and it really motivates me!)

“You know, when you told me you’d be moving out of our flat, I didn’t realize you’d be switching our modest mancave to… basically a mansion.” Leo whistled. He was visiting Jason and his girlfriend Piper’s new home for the first time, only to find out that the place was a new two-floor, 5-bedroom house with a big yard and a garage. Leo knew Piper’s dad was a famous movie star but even so, he couldn’t help but be surprised by the size and the fanciness of the place.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, ruffling his short, spiky hair awkwardly. He knew about Leo’s background, the part about no biological parents and having to live on the streets for weeks between different foster homes until the police finally picked him and made him go to another family. That’s why Jason didn’t like to make a big number of living in such a place and about the fact that both his and Piper’s dads were rich and well known. As a matter of fact, Jason has moved away from his childhood home already at 16, living with his sister Thalia and working after school to pay for his living because he didn’t get along with his father well. Having Piper’s dad fund the new place had not been an easy thing to swallow for him and Jason swore that once he had gotten a job, he would pay him back. “I told Piper’s dad that we’d be perfectly happy with something smaller, but he refused to listen,” he told Leo too.

“Must be pretty great to have a father like that,” Leo mumbled under his breath, and Jason didn’t miss the tone of his voice.

“I know what it sounds like, but believe me, both of us have had our own issues with our parents.” It wasn’t a lie. Jason’s mother had died of a severe illness when he was young, and his father had always expected him to take over his business when he got older. However, Jason had never wanted that, which led to a huge argument and his father telling him he’d disown him entirely if Jason didn’t listen to him. 

Piper’s dad again was almost never home, being busy with his work, and her mother had left her family when she was a young kid. Piper had visited her occasionally until her teenage years, but these days she only saw her about once a year. From what Piper had heard, she was constantly running after new men and busy with her beauty business. All that meant that Piper was basically raised by a nanny, and she was suspecting that her dad had gotten the house mainly out of regret. 

Either way, even though Jason and Piper’s experiences hadn’t been quite as traumatic as Leo’s, perhaps the problematic family backgrounds had been an important uniting factor for the three of them when they learned to know each other. It was also a big reason why Leo wasn’t actually bitter towards his friends about this new luxury. He knew they deserved to have good things in their lives after what they had gone through.

“Yeah, I know,” Leo replied to Jason. “Don’t worry man, I was just surprised, that’s all. Now you have some space to invite Uncle Leo over sometimes too, right?”

“As long as you remember to pull your head from your machine clouds sometimes,” Jason jabbed back. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything from you. How are things going?”

“Busy busy,” Leo answered. “You know, the usual: the profs being a huge pain in my ass, people lining up to get me to fix their things that in reality would take them like 3 minutes to fix and… oh, I have a new flatmate.”

“You do?” Jason asked curiously. “What’s he like?”

“First of all, she’s a she and it’s a long story so I’d prefer to tell it when Piper is hearing it too so I don’t have to tell it twice,” Leo said, so that Jason wouldn’t ask more questions. The blonde boy simply nodded and gestured towards the entrance of the house. After that he gave Leo a quick tour on the first floor. 

“You have this much space here and no workshop? Holy Hephaestus, dude, you need to sort out your priorities!” Leo exclaimed once he had seen most of it. 

“Hephaestus? That’s a new one,” Jason said with amusement. 

“Yeah, well… my new flatmate is into Greek mythology… and Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths… so that’s kinda cool,” Leo explained as nonchalantly as possible. 

“Yeah, but did you really pay attention to the mythology lessons? I thought you only care about sciences and handicrafts,” Jason pointed out.

“Fine, you got me. Everything I know about Greek mythology is through my childhood nanny.” Jason couldn’t help but snort at that. 

Leo had to admit he was rather impressed by what he had seen even though the house was still lacking a workshop. Besides, Jason had already promised the guest room would be open for him any time he wanted, which was an offer he would definitely be using soon enough.

“Hi, Leo!” a brown haired girl greeted him happily as soon as he reached the living room. 

“Pipes, hi!” Leo greeted back, throwing her a high five as was their usual habit every time they met. “Would your dad be willing to buy me a place too so I could move away from that old, dusty building?”  
“He’s a nice guy, Leo, but he has his limits too,” Piper noted, knowing that Leo wasn’t asking seriously. “Trust me, Jason and I don’t like owing him either. But I thought you liked it in your current flat? What’s the issue?”

“I guess it just isn’t quite the same without you guys hanging out there all the time,” Leo shrugged. “And my new flatmate seems to think after 10 PM is not an appropriate time to fix people’s machines. Go figure.”

“Yeah, why would anyone want to sleep at night?” Piper replied sarcastically but then smiled at him. “So, you do have a new flatmate?”

“Yeah,” Leo nodded, not elaborating more.

Jason couldn’t help but tease a bit: “And it’s a girl and he refused to tell me anything about her.”

“Oh,” Piper said, a curious gleaming in her eyes, “Is that so, Leo?”

Leo punched Jason on his bicep, which however only made him laugh. “Your boyfriend here is changing facts. I only told him that I’d like to tell the full story when you’re hearing it too because I don’t care about going through it any more times than necessary.”

“You’re being quite grumpy about it, though,” Jason retorted. “C’mon, we’re curious.”

“Fine.” Leo sighed. “Her name is Calypso and she’s a history student,” he said simply.

“Wow, I feel I basically know her already,” Piper replied sarcastically. “There must be something else too,” she urged with an encouraging tone that usually never failed to make Leo talk. “What about the long story?”

Suddenly Leo blurted the whole story from their meeting to her cold attitude to Festus breaking Calypso’s desk and to him fixing it and finally cracking her shell a bit. Not much, Leo felt, but at least she greeted him now when they were in the common area at the same time and didn’t seem quite as angry at him anymore. She had even smiled at him the other day. Briefly. Leo tried to shake that thought out of his head. Damn it, why did he always have a thing for girls who were way out of his league (and who hated his guts)?

“Tough luck, man,” Jason said when Leo finished his story. “Maybe she will come around, though.”

Piper, who was very good at reading people’s emotions, though, reacted quite differently.

“Try to think about it from her point of view. She has, based on what you just said, just moved to a new town where she knows no one, and then the first person she meets was – don’t take this as an offense - maybe a bit different than what she expected and then he also breaks what little she owns… I’d probably be pissed off too. So instead of firing back – if she’s still angry – you could try a different approach. You know, actually being nice to her and not making jokes at inappropriate moments.”

Leo frowned. “Hey! It wasn’t like I was intentionally trying to be rude or break anything! I did apologize and fix the desk! She just makes it so easy to be snarky sometimes…”

“Have you really tried to get to know her, though?” Piper asked. “She could be happy if you showed some actual interest in her.”

Leo blushed a bit at the word ‘interest’. “I’m really not so sure about that… To me she seems the happiest when I just let her be.”

“But you’re gonna live together for a while, you can’t just avoid her forever,” Piper pointed out.

“I hate it when you’re right, beauty queen,” Leo rolled his eyes at her. Jason decided to change the topic.

“Hey, how about a card game? If Leo wins, we’ll let you withdraw into your tinkering cave for one more week. If you lose, then we are challenging you to talk to her within the next 24 hours.”  
“Sounds like a pretty unfair deal,” Leo muttered. “But knowing you guys you won’t be giving me a choice. However, if I win, I demand to get to live here from next Friday to Sunday, free food and foot massages included.”

“I’m not gonna touch your dirty feet!” Jason protested.

“But if I’m gonna have to talk to her either way, I feel it’s a fair deal.” Leo grinned as if he had won already. 

“Alright. You can spend here even a whole week if you want and we will buy your food BUT we are not gonna massage your feet,” Piper tried to compromise.

“Bummer. I was really looking forward to that. But fine, I’ll accept the deal.” Leo shook both Piper and Jason’s hands to seal it. “Now, let me show you what a real card master can do!”

…

Leo turned out to be an amazing card mixer (his hands always fiddled with something so he had definitely practiced card mixing too) and a good strategist (his main strategy was trying to distract his opponents with bad jokes) but Piper and Jason weren’t bad either. After playing for over 30 minutes, the winner still hadn’t been decided so the trio decided to go all in, the next round would decide the winner.

Piper dealt the cards this time, Leo and Jason taking theirs. A wild grin spreading to Leo’s face when he checked his cards.

“Woah. Sorry, Grace, but I’m afraid I won this game.”

“Is that so, Valdez?” Jason asked, rather confidently as well. Leo glanced at him with confusion only for a moment before he smashed his cards on the table.

“Quads!” he exclaimed happily as he spread the cards on the table for the others to see. Jason’s mouth twitched.

“Not bad, Repair Boy,” the blonde boy said, using the nickname Piper had come up with. “But I’m afraid that won’t win this.”

He showed his cards, revealing five hearts, numbers 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Leo’s face paled a bit and the grin disappeared.

“Straight flush! That’s impossible!” he yelped.

“It’s not!” Piper said. “But don’t worry, I think this is a win for both of us. We don’t have to buy your food and you get to stop being stubborn a bit faster. C’mon, this could be a good thing. You might have formed your opinion on her too fast.”

“Hmmph. But fine. I’ll talk to her. Tomorrow. Today, my pride has been wounded.”

Jason and Piper both muffled their giggles. Not much later, Leo decided to go home as he supposedly had homework to finish (in reality, he had already finished his physics exercises in class while bored of listening to the professor talk about something that was way too obvious to him) but the other two knew he was simply making excuses. When Leo had decided he didn’t want to do something, it was /really/ hard to get him to do it, because he was that stubborn. And clearly talking with that girl was one of those things.

Once Jason and Piper had waved Leo goodbye and watched him strut farther on the road, Piper asked quietly: “Should we have told him that the dealer may have been a bit partial and she’s also good at card tricks?”

“Nah, let him think it was a fair game. Otherwise we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Yeah, you’re right there,” Piper admitted and the two burst into laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire alarms make a good reason to talk to your flatmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! This isn't the longest but we get some important hints about Leo's past. I wanted to involve fire into his story somehow and, well, this is what happened.
> 
> Thanks to Cris for betaing and a huge shoutout to smoustart on ig for making some awesome art for this fic! I don't think I can link it here but go check her posts out if you want to!
> 
> I guess I don't really have more to say, please enjoy and leave a comment if you like this fic because that can literally make my day and it sure as heck makes me more motivated to continue it!
> 
> Ps. I am still reading the Burning Maze and I finally got to /that/ part yesterday... Ouch my heart...

"Damn that fire alarm!" Calypso growled to herself as the device made the beeping sound again. "I can't focus when it's doing that."

She had been working on her latest literature assignment ("write a detailed character analysis on one of the characters in Odyssey") when the fire alarm had started making a sound that Calypso suspected meant it was running out of battery. Unfortunately, she didn't have tools of her own so she had no idea how she'd manage to change them before the sound would drive her mad. She didn't want to give up so easily, though, so she took one of her hair pins and climbed on a chair, attempting to unscrew the fire alarm with the pin. However, she had no success. The pin was too thick and the alarm was a bit too high for her, so she had to stand on her toes to reach it in the first place. That's why, when she heard a door open, she nearly lost her balance because she got startled by the sudden sound. 

"Wow, wow! Woman! What are you doing?" her flatmate yelped when he rushed to give her his hand so she wouldn't fall from the chair.

Calypso was embarrassed that he had seen that scene unfold, so she let go of his hand immediately once she was standing steadily on the floor and said a bit more rudely than what she had meant: "What does it look like? Trying to change the battery, of course."

"No offense, Sunshine, but were you really trying to open it with a hair pin?" Leo asked, amusement clear in his voice. "Like, sure, hair pins can be used for many things but I'm pretty sure there are better tools for that."

Calypso squinted at him. "First of all, don't call me Sunshine. Second of all, Mister Mechanic, I don't carry tools around everywhere unlike some people. So please get yours and change those damn batteries."

Leo was no longer affected by Calypso's tone. He was secretly happy that for once he'd be good for something.

“Gladly, Sunshine,” he replied cheerfully, emphasizing the Sunshine part. He was already wearing his toolbelt with a screwdriver peeking from it and he seemed unfazed when their fingers touched for a moment as Calypso handed him the batteries she had been planning to use.

“By the way, you’re buying the next batteries in case these will stop working too before either of us has moved out,” Calypso noted as she watched Leo picking the suitable tool for opening the fire alarm.

“That’s fair enough,” Leo said, still smiling as he focused on his mission. Calypso was slightly surprised by his calmness. She was fully aware that she was not acting like her usual self in his company, and at first it seemed to have irritated Leo, but now? He didn’t seem to care. He had taken an entirely new approach and she didn’t know what to think of it.

Leo climbed on the chair (not having issues reaching the alarm since he was about 10 centimeters taller than Calypso) and started unscrewing the lid. When he got it done, he gave the lid for Calypso to hold while he put the new batteries in. Standing in such a close proximity, Calypso noticed the scars on Leo’s olive colored arms that were left uncovered by his T-shirt. She wanted to ask about them but she didn’t know how he’d feel about it so the only thing that came out of her mouth was an “ummm…”

“Yeah? Were you gonna say something?” Leo asked nonchalantly while still switching the batteries.

“Never mind. It’s. It’s none of my business.” Calypso shrugged.

“What is?” Leo kept insisting.

“I was…” Calypso felt her cheeks getting hot. “…just wondering where you got those scars.”

Now Leo’s smile finally faded. He shook his head. “A fire. Long time ago. That’s all.” It meant she wasn’t allowed to ask more questions about that, and she got the hint.

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, what happened, happened.” He sighed, climbing down the chair. “But now that we’re getting serious, can I ask you a question? Why do you act like that? Like you hate me? I’m trying my hardest to think of what I really did wrong but I can’t think of anything other than me just being generally annoying. Most people get past that in about two weeks. But I can’t get a grip of you.”

“It’s complicated.” Calypso said, similar kind of sadness in her eyes as what she’d seen in Leo’s after her question. Then she realized that maybe they did have something in common: secrets about their past they didn’t want to share. “I… I don’t think I actually hate you. It has… something to do with my past. I don’t have a lot of good experiences with people, and… that’s why I’m quite cautious when I meet someone new these days. I admit that when I first saw you, I was… prejudiced. But as I’ve gotten to know you a bit better, I’ve noticed… some of the thoughts I had of you were probably wrong.”

Leo couldn’t help but snort at that confession. “Oh, then what were you expecting? Some tall, handsome, strong, heroic guy who actually prefers spending his time with people rather than with his machines?”

“That’s not it. You gave me a kind of obnoxious picture of yourself during our first conversation. And then your dog broke my desk… I guess that was the final straw. But you did fix it. And you helped me to change the batteries too,” she pointed at the fire alarm. “And I think I understand your machine craziness. You need a distraction, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Leo admitted, starting unconsciously fiddling with his toolbox again. “Doing something with my hands always helps me when I feel anxious or… whatever.” 

Calypso could relate to that. “I’m the same. I mean, I’m not as good with tools as you are, but I take care of my flowers, sew, knit, draw… that kind of stuff.”

“I see.” Leo nodded. “Hey, is it just me or did we just have our first proper conversation? Just wait till Jason and Piper are gonna hear about this!”

“What?” Calypso asked, confused about what Leo’s friends had to do with that.

“Oh, sorry.” Leo looked embarrassed, realizing he had said too much. “I probably shouldn’t have said that. But, um, the thing is, I… kinda made a deal with my friends that I would talk to you. Because they thought I was acting stupid. But I swear, this wasn’t planned, I heard the fire alarm too and I didn’t know you were already trying to take care of it. So I was 100 per cent honest about everything I said. Leo Valdez doesn’t lie.”

Calypso raised her eyebrow, but this time there was actually no maliciousness in her voice when she asked: “Oh, so you were talking about me to your friends? I wonder what you said.”

Leo’s face turned as hot as a tomato: “Not-nothing bad! Just that we weren’t off to a good start, but…”

“Relax,” Calypso stopped him, a hint of smile on her face. “You don’t have to tell me more.”

“Huh? You’re not mad?” Leo’s eyebrows disappeared behind his long, curly fringe.

“Nah. I have to admit I may have mentioned you to someone at the uni as well. Turns out she had heard of you too,” Calypso giggled at Leo’s surprised expression. The surprise didn’t last long, though, because it turned into a grin as Leo said:

“That’s the Valdez effect for you! Of course all the ladies have heard of me, I’m irresistible!”

“Right now you’re being pretty resistible, though.” Calypso rolled her eyes, but her mouth twitched with amusement.

“Huh? You’re not feeling my charm?”

“No! Absolutely not!” she said coldly, resting her hands on her hips.

Leo pretended to feel upset by her comment. “Just wait, I will win you over!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Calypso stuck her tongue out. “Hey, if you are done with your weirdness now, I’d like to test if the fire alarm works.”

“What?”

Before Leo had time to say more, Calypso pulled out matches from her pocket, climbed on the chair and took one stick out of the box. Before she managed to light it, though, Leo yelped, his face unnaturally pale: “No, don’t!”

“What’s wrong?” Calypso asked, turning to see him.

“It’s just… I hate the sound it makes, wait till I’m in my room,” he said but Calypso had a feeling that wasn’t the truth. She tried to think what could have possibly triggered him, and came up with only one possible solution: he was afraid of fire.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso gets a makeover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping things short this time, please enjoy and let me know what you think!

“So, Greek is your native language? That’s so cool!” Annabeth exclaimed as she and Calypso were on their way to a nearby mall to purchase new things for the new semester. “I’ve been trying to learn Ancient Greek just for fun but it’s harder than you’d think, I’m not very good yet.”

“Yeah,” Calypso nodded understandingly. “I’ve been living here since I was about 10 so I’d like to think that my English is fine now – apart from the accent – but it took me half a year to actually start speaking English in the class when I started school here… And I was homeschooled during my high school years so it was hard to maintain the language skills. It’s nice to be able to communicate with other students face to face now,” Calypso said with a sad undertone that Annabeth didn’t miss.

“You were homeschooled?” she asked with surprise. “Any special reason for that?”

Calypso didn’t know what to answer to that. The truth was very hurtful and she hadn’t ever told anyone about it, much less someone she had known less than a week. That’s why she tried to smooth it out as much as she could when she answered: “Um… My father seemed to think it was a safer option than going to a public school.” She shrugged. Annabeth didn’t ask more questions, probably thinking that her answer seemed acceptable.

“Makes sense. I’ve done a lot of studying at home too, mostly because I have ADHD and dyslexia so learning isn’t as easy to me as it is to some.” That information surprised Calypso.

“But… Sorry for the assumption but to me you seem like the type who always wants to be on the top of her class.”

“You guessed right.” Annabeth smiled. “But it hasn’t been an easy road. I have had to try a lot of learning methods before I finally found some that worked for me and made it easier for me to focus. Luckily these days there are a lot of audiobooks and other options for dyslexic learners so… it’s not so bad.”

“Right,” Calypso said. The conversation ended because they had finally arrived at their destination. Calypso had brought very little with her into her new home - just the most essential clothes and other everyday items - so there was plenty she needed. However, she also needed to figure out where to get more money once she was done with the shopping. She had some savings on her bank account thanks to helping her dad with his business (mainly stuff like paying bills and writing emails on his behalf) and because a dead relative had left her some money in her will, but those would only last for a couple of months. She had considered her options and one of them was opening an online shop where she’d sell things she’d herself made, from clothes (she was pretty handy with both knitting and sewing) to decorative objects such as jewellery and ceramic pots. The issue with the latter option was that she had no place to make them; the room she currently had was too small and Leo probably wouldn’t be thrilled if she turned their common area into a workshop.

“So,” she turned to Annabeth as they were checking a display at a bookstore. “This might be a bit of a random question, but do you have to work to pay for your studies?”

“Oh, yeah, I do!” Annabeth answered. “My dad would have helped but we’ve never been that close and I don’t feel it’s fair so I give children art classes and sometimes tutor them in various subjects. It also helps that I live together with my boyfriend so we can split our bills…”

“You said earlier that he’s a swimmer, right?” Calypso remembered from their earlier conversation. “I used to know one who I think is pretty good these days. But I haven’t kept in touch with him for a couple of years.”

“Oh? What’s his name?” Annabeth inquired. “I might know him?” 

Calypso was about to answer when she suddenly spotted a couple of people she knew in the crowd outside the bookstore. She inhaled sharply and pulled Annabeth farther from that direction, hiding behind her.

“No, no… that can’t be… how would they know…” she muttered to herself.

“What’s wrong?” Annabeth asked, trying to see what had caused Calypso’s reaction.

“I… just saw some people I don’t want to find me. It’s a long story. But we should go.” Calypso said as quietly as she could, nodding towards the entrance of the mall.

“But we just came here…”

“I’m sorry!” Calypso bit her lip. “I really don’t want him to see me. We can go to some other place.”

“Fine,” Annabeth agreed, still glancing to the direction where the mysterious person had been. “There’s another shopping center nearby.”

Once they were safely outside, she asked: “What was that about?”

“I wish I could tell you but I don’t want you to get involved in this mess…” Calypso said, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. “But this is bad, they might have a clue I’m here… I don’t know what they’d do if…”

“You don’t make any sense now,” Annabeth noted bluntly. “But OK, someone is looking for you and you don’t want them to find you. I know we haven’t known each other long, but you can trust me. I’ll help you out if you need it.”

“Thanks,” Calypso said gratefully. “Right now, the farther I am from those people, the better.”

“What are we waiting for, then?” the blonde girl tugged on her sleeve and started running like a little child. “Let’s go!” she said, smiling as she ran farther from Calypso, and she couldn’t help but follow her.

…

In another shopping center Calypso spotted a hair salon, which gave her an idea. She figured that if she looked different than before escaping her childhood home, the men who worked for her father would have a harder time recognizing her. That meant a new haircut, new clothes, and possibly different kinds of make-up too. She didn’t usually use a lot of products on her face – mascara and lipgloss were her go-to make-up items – but maybe Annabeth would be able to help her with that.

“I… should probably use my money on more important things, but do you happen to know anyone who’d be willing to give me a haircut? And maybe even help with dyeing it?” Calypso asked while looking at the ads on the wall of the hair salon.

“You want to cut it?” Annabeth eyed her long, caramel colored hair that had been braided. “I thought it looks so pretty now.”

Calypso mumbled something about wanting to start kind of from a clean slate in a new place, not wanting to go too deep into her reasons.

“I understand.” The other girl nodded. “As for your question, yes, I happen to know just the person! My friend Piper McLean is quite experienced in that field because one of her sisters is a hairdresser and she taught Piper to cut her hair. She’s helped me sometimes too!”

“Piper?” The name reminded Calypso of something. Then she realized that she had heard Leo mention a girl named Piper the other day. “That is not a very common name here, is it? I mean, I think my flatmate knows someone called Piper too…”

“Now that you mention it, I think it might indeed be the same Piper,” Annabeth realized. “She does talk about Leo sometimes; apparently they are good friends. Somehow I’ve yet to meet him, though.”  
Calypso from a couple of days ago might have said that Annabeth really hasn’t missed much, but something had changed after the conversation with him the other day. She no longer felt annoyed simply by the mention of his name, and even though she didn’t really want to admit it, there was a part of her that wanted to know more about him. Something bad, apparently related to fire, had happened in his past that he kept inside him, and when Calypso thought about it, she couldn’t help but feel for him… She too had lost a lot. But then she shook her head because now was not the time to get stuck in her past.

“Maybe you will meet him if you come to our flat at some point; he’s home working a lot,” she answered instead.

“Maybe!” Annabeth said enthusiastically. “I’d like to know what all the fuss is about because somehow I seem to have a lot of connections towards him. First my boyfriend, then Piper, and now you too.”

“Small world, huh?” Calypso smiled. Annabeth agreed and after they paid for their purchases she proceeded to call Piper to ask if she’d be willing to help a friend out. Piper had nothing against that. They decided to meet up at Leo and Calypso’s flat in a few hours because it was closer to their current whereabouts than Annabeth and Piper’s homes.

...

About two hours later, Calypso’s wallet was notably lighter, but she had gotten herself a new, pink everyday dress, a jacket, shoes that matched the dress, a light blue shirt, some make-up products (for which she had had to ask the shop assistant’s help) and henna hair dye. She had debated on her color options for a good while, but ended up on the orange-ish because it wasn’t too far from her own hair color (she didn’t want too radical changes when she was dying her hair for the first time) and she also liked using natural, organic products when possible.

“Thanks for coming with me!” Calypso told Annabeth happily when they were finally back at her flat. “You were a big help.”

“No big deal,” Annabeth said back. “I’m always happy to help a friend. Not that you needed it a lot.”

“I meant more than just shopping wise,” Calypso said, looking down at her feet. “I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been alone when…”

Annabeth understood she was referring to the strangers who had frightened her.

“You still don’t want to talk about that?” she asked carefully.

“I’d rather not,” Calypso shook her head. “It’s… a part of my life that I’m trying to leave behind me.”

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “Can I ask you one question, though? You know those guys and they know you? And they’re searching for you?”

“I… I don’t know what they were really doing here. It could have been a total coincidence. I mean, only you knew we were going to be at that mall so it feels impossible that they would have known…” Calypso rubbed her forehead tiredly.

“You’re not trying to run away from the police or anything? Sorry, I just had to ask.”

“No, no!” Calypso lifted her hands in front of her defensively. “They are from my dad’s company… it’s complicated.”

That was Annabeth’s cue to stop asking more questions. She figured that Calypso would tell her with time if she let it be. The atmosphere started getting a bit awkward so both of the girls were relieved when Annabeth’s phone rang and Piper announced she was waiting at the front door. Calypso let her in.

“So you’re the famous Calypso!” she exclaimed the moment she saw her.

“Famous?” Calypso asked, her eyebrows raising. 

“I just meant that Leo has talked quite a lot about you,” she grinned cheekily. Calypso couldn’t help but notice that the girl was very pretty, with mysterious multicolored eyes and brown hair that suited her even though it was cut unevenly. She secretly hoped that she had made it look like that on purpose and it didn’t show her real hair cutting skills.

“He has?” Calypso asked. “I bet he’s said nothing good about me…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Piper replied, “he may seem a bit rude on the surface but I promise that he’s actually much nicer than what he looks like. Just awkward around new people. So, no, he hasn’t said anything that would make me hate you.”

“That’s a relief, especially since you’re supposed to use the scissors near me soon,” Calypso attempted to joke and to her relief Piper laughed at it.

“Anyways, as I’m sure you already know, I’m Piper.” She shook Calypso’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind me coming into your flat even though we are just meeting right now.”

“Oh, no problem!” Calypso reassured her. “I trust Annabeth’s judgement on friends.”

“Not Leo’s, though?” The corner of Piper’s mouth raised with amusement.

“Uh…” Calypso rubbed her neck. “We’ve had a slightly weird start but I think we have made a bit of progress in the past few days, though.”

“So he has talked to you like he promised?” Piper asked.

“Well, however you take it. The fire alarm started acting up yesterday and he fixed it. And I did learn some new things about him meanwhile,” Calypso confessed.

“Such as?”

“Either he’s really afraid of the voice of the fire alarm… or then the thing that causes it,” Calypso said vaguely, trying to see from Piper’s reaction if she knew something she didn’t.

“His home burned when he was a child,” Piper revealed. “He was only 8. It was pretty traumatizing for him so you’d probably do well if you didn’t ask about it. He’ll tell you more when he’s ready.”

Calypso could relate to that feeling because she had literally only moments before told Annabeth that she wasn’t ready to talk about her background.

“He mentioned something about a fire the other day but he was pretty vague about it… But anyway, that explains why he wasn’t thrilled when I was going to use the matches…” Calypso noted and the other two hummed in agreement. To lighten the mood, Piper decided to change the subject:

“Anyway, I believe I came here for a makeover, so maybe we should get started!” she said happily, gesturing towards the items she brought.

…

A couple of hours later, Piper had performed her magic and Calypso looked almost like a different person. Her hair, which used to reach her bottom, was now shoulder length and orange-ish instead of caramel blonde. Piper would have agreed to cut a fringe as well, but Calypso refused. The brunette was also a rather skilled make-up artist (she didn’t wear a lot of make-up herself, but her mother was extremely enthusiastic about all things beauty related and had taught her from a young age. Piper claimed she’d be proud if she saw her now) and she taught Calypso some simple tricks to do her everyday make-up. Turned out she didn’t need much: her skin was naturally smooth and her eyelashes long and dark. To complete the look, Calypso put on her new dress, and the other two girls cheered when she showed them it.

“I’d say mission successful!” Piper exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Even my mom would approve.”

“You think so?” Calypso asked shyly, still trying to get used to her new look. 

“Definitely,” Annabeth agreed as well. 

“Can I offer you something as a thanks?” Calypso suggested. “Coffee? Tea? Juice? I think I have some pie left from the other day as well unless Leo has stolen it…”

“Tea sounds good,” Piper nodded approvingly and the girls moved into the common area. 

“Leo doesn’t seem to be home?” she asked Calypso when she started boiling the tea water. “And here I thought he’s always here building something.”

“I think he mentioned something about a sparring session…” Calypso shrugged. “I didn’t ask more about that.”

“Oh yeah, sometimes he and Jason and a couple of other friends do that but I know Jason wasn’t going to go anywhere today, he has a deadline for an assignment…”

The girls were still wondering the mystery of Leo’s whereabouts when keys started clinging by the front door and soon it opened. A smile spread on Leo’s face when he recognized Piper who sat on the kitchen counter. 

“Speaking of the devil, there he is,” the brunette stated before Leo had time to say anything, making the boy confused. 

“Pipes, what are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“I was with Calypso and Annabeth, duh,” she answered, gesturing at the two girls that Leo hadn’t noticed until that moment. 

“I didn’t know you knew Calypso,” Leo stated before turning his attention properly to the two other girls. First he nodded at Annabeth who was sitting by the dining table and started introducing himself: “Hi, I’m Le...wow”

“What?” Annabeth snorted but didn’t get a reply because Leo had finally noticed that his flatmate looked very different from before. In a good way. 

Calypso was frozen in her spot with a teapot in her hand, blushing when she felt Leo’s stare at her. But Leo didn’t notice that. He noticed how the make-up brought out her almond shaped eyes (Leo wondered how he had never noticed before that they were so dark brown that they almost looked black), how the dress she was wearing reminded him of one his mom had worn often during the holidays, and how the short hair curled cutely from the ends, tickling her jaw a bit. If he was honest with himself (which he tried hard not to be), he had previously thought she couldn’t possibly be prettier than she already was, but clearly he had been proven wrong. He had to bite his lip to not curse out loud (because he would NOT have a crush on his flatmate).

“Well? What do you think?” Piper asked when the silence that had fallen into the room was about to get awkward. “We had a small makeover here.”

“I… uh… she looks… good?” Leo stammered, feeling the heat rise all the way to his ears. In reality, he had to gather all his willpower to stop himself from using all the extravagant words he often used to describe his work (usually as a joke). Because he did like what he saw, he couldn’t deny that no matter what.

“Good? Calypso, his ears say otherwise. I’ve never seen them that red.” Piper teased.

“Shut it, Beauty Queen. “ Leo mustered the most burning expression he was capable of making.

Piper didn’t care. “Just so you know, Calypso, he’s used that name as a joke since we learned to know each other, so don’t think that he thinks of me that way. I have a boyfriend.”  
Calypso smiled at her awkwardly.

“Yeah, and sometimes I don’t get why Jason stands you. Estás loca.” Leo shook his head before withdrawing into his own room.

“Aww, he goes for Spanish when he’s nervous, Cal. I think you really made quite an impression,” Piper laughed, not caring about Leo’s reaction.

“Was that necessary, though?” Calypso asked, feeling almost as flustered as Leo a moment before.

“Don’t worry about it. We just like to make fun of him.” Piper shrugged. “He won’t be mad long.”

“But…” Calypso started, not knowing what to make of Leo’s reaction. Had he really liked her new look? Why had he gotten so flustered? Finally, she decided she must have been overthinking it. “Uh, never mind. Anyway, thanks for the help, Piper. What do I owe you for this?”

“Nothing. But please invite me over more often. I think we are gonna have fun together!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Calypso start opening up to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Caleo centered chapter! This is a short one but I think it's important to show a casual conversation between them (smth RR doesn't do enough in his books tbh).
> 
> Thanks to Cris for betaing!! You have been super helpful as usual :3 
> 
> Without a further ado, please enjoy and don't forget to hit that kudos button and leave a comment if you like this because it /does/ motivate me to write more!

“Where are you going with all those things?” Calypso looked at Leo curiously a couple of days after the makeover incident. He was carrying several bags full of various machines, his safety goggles that were often on him even when he wasn’t working resting on his curly hair and a determined expression on his face. “That looks heavy. Can I help you?”

Leo had learned to carry heavy loads through the years but he was still thankful for the offer. “I guess you can, before one of these bad boys fall.” Calypso took one bag and was surprised by how heavy it was, yet Leo had still tried to carry all 3 on his own.

“As for your question, I’m going home for the weekend again. I can do a lot of the smaller projects here but Jo has a way better space and way better machines to do this work,” Leo explained.

“Who is Jo?” Calypso asked, not remembering Leo mentioning that name before.

“She’s one of my adoptive mothers,” Leo said nonchalantly like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Calypso furrowed her eyebrows slightly. “You were adopted? By two mothers?” 

“Yep, I was. Got a problem with that?” Leo asked, putting the bags down and crossing his arms.

“Oh, no, no!” Calypso shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that! I was just surprised because… I don’t know, when you said ‘home’, I pictured you, um, with your biological family. You’ve never mentioned being adopted before. Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“You never asked,” Leo said, his face remaining neutral. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder if he was still feeling uncomfortable because of what happened the other day. “But my current family is still more normal than any of the other families I’ve seen so far.”

“I see. Uh, I hope I’m not crossing some boundary but… what happened to your biological family?” she asked, but quickly added: “If you feel comfortable telling.”

Leo sighed, taking the bags from the floor again before answering. “Dad left mom when he found out she was pregnant, mom died, my dear aunt made sure no one else in the family wanted me… End of story.”

“Sorry, I had no idea… That’s a lot to go through for anyone…” Calypso wanted to touch his shoulder or do something else to gesture that she was there if he wanted to talk, but some emotional barrier stopped her from doing that.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like pity. It is what it is. Shit happened but I’ve gained a lot too. Jo and Emmie are honestly some of the best people I’ve ever met and Georgie is like a sister to me.” Leo could have continued that rant longer, wanting to say how they had basically saved his life and how he had felt he belonged somewhere for the first time in seven years when they had adopted him, but the mood had already gotten weird enough.

“If it makes you feel any better, I know a lot about unstable families too,” Calypso said then, stopping Leo’s track of thoughts. “My parents aren’t exactly the nicest of people. Especially my father. Sometimes… sometimes I wish that I didn’t know them.”

Leo sensed the hurt in her voice, and he didn’t ask more. Instead, he decided they had been moping long enough now and attempted to lighten the mood in his own way.

“I hope you don’t think that way about Uncle Leo, though,” he said, giving her a lopsided grin. “Would be pretty awkward to be flatmates otherwise.”

“You’re weird,” Calypso said but looked down to avoid eye contact with Leo. “Why do you call yourself uncle?”

“Just for fun! Besides, my weirdness is growing on you, isn’t it?”

“Nah,” she said, but Leo noticed her mouth was tugged slightly upwards.

“It so is,” he teased.

“Whatever, _Uncle Leo_.” Calypso said with the most sarcastic voice she could muster.

“When you say it like that, it sounds pretty bad,” Leo protested, making Calypso smile even wider.

“That was the purpose!” she announced.

“Ouch! That hurt.” He clutched his chest.

Calypso just laughed at him. The joke seemed to have helped in lightening the mood and the rest of the way down to Leo’s car went in a comfortable silence. Calypso was focusing on the road in front of them so Leo got an opportunity to observe her for a moment, making a mental note to make her smile and laugh more often. Somehow, it seemed to be contagious because suddenly Leo felt like laughing too.

“Hey. Thanks for opening up about your past,” Calypso said when they stopped in front of Leo’s car, a red Opel from the 1990ies that he himself had fixed. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me that.”

“ _No hay problema!_ “ Leo exclaimed as she lifted the bags into the back of his car. “I figured you’d hear it from Piper at some point anyway because she can be a blabbermouth… And I guess you two are friends now?”

Calypso considered the question. “Yeah, I think so! I mean, err… this may sound weird but I’ve never really had close friends so I’m not 100% sure how all of this works, I’m still figuring it out… But I would probably call us friends.”

Leo wanted to say: “running away from your foster homes and living on the streets doesn’t exactly gain you friends either” but with the new found peace they had reached he didn’t want to break that. “I know the feeling. Before I met Jason and some others here, Festus was my best friend.”

Suddenly Calypso felt bad about getting so mad at Festus (and Leo) about her desk.

“That reminds me, when you see him, could you apologize to him? For me yelling when we first met?”

“So, you’re more ready to apologize to a dog than me?” Leo asked, but not seriously. “Where’s my apology?”

Calypso had an urge to roll her eyes. “Oh you big baby, you don’t deserve one. After all, you’re the one who was responsible for him.”

“Har har.”

Calypso’s voice softened. “I do still appreciate you fixing it. It looks nice now.”

“Did you just compliment me?” Leo asked with amusement. “Super sized McShizzle must have done something right, then!”

“Watch out for your head, it might not fit into the car,” Calypso said, this time only making Leo laugh.

“Looks like I’ve managed to bring out a whole new side of you. Or are you always this sassy?”

“No, definitely just with you,” Calypso stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well, I’m honored. But now I should get going, Georgie is probably already staring from the window waiting for me.” Leo sat down in his car, tapping the wheel impatiently but leaving the door open so they could hear each other.

“Aww, a doting big brother too! I’m learning a whole lot about Leo Valdez today,” Calypso said with a teasing tone.

“Laugh all you want, I’m proud to be her brother!”

“It’s fine,” Calypso said, knowing something about being a sibling herself. “When will you be back?” she asked before Leo closed the door.

“Whenever Argo II decides it’s time to return,” Leo said mysteriously.

“Argo? Don’t tell me you named your car after that ship in Greek mythology?” 

“I might have. Well, see ya!” Leo said, leaving Calypso baffled. She wouldn’t have thought Leo knew the myths that well. So full of mysteries, that one. Calypso couldn’t help but think that even though she knew a bit more about Leo now, she felt even more confused than before.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso makes another new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to introduce Hazel! Since some of you may be interested in my ToA read, I'm currently reading TTT and I'm gonna say it is making me feel a lot of things about Frank and Hazel, those pure babies. I'm sure we'll see some Frazel in this fic eventually as well! (A little teaser in this ch!) In my fic Hazel is 18 and Frank 20, just for future reference.
> 
> Anyway, not sure what else to say about this chapter so thanks to Cris for helping me out and listening to my rants again, and thanks to the people who commented the previous chapter!! I've been surprised to see that this fic seems to have started getting a bit more attention lately. But now, as usual please enjoy this chapter and don't forget that even a short comment like "nice" can make my day!
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to mention that the past week I've been posting some 'additions' to this universe on my tumblr, a drawing of Leo and Calypso's flat and some headcanons about their links and dislikes. So if you wanna see that, head to winryofresembool dot tumblr dot com / tagged / caleo (or alternately caleo-uni-au tag). I do occasionally post there other stuff related to this au as well!

As the fall progressed, Calypso, who had brought a couple of her favorite paintings with her to her new flat, decided to show some of her art to Annabeth. The architect student complimented them and encouraged her to continue creating art, but Calypso admitted that sometimes it was hard to find the motivation to do it on her own. She preferred making things that she could actually use, such as clothes, but she wasn’t opposed to continuing the art hobby if she found a motivator. Annabeth suggested she join the university art club that had classes for various skill levels and where she’d get feedback to help her get even better. The blonde girl wished she had more time to draw just for fun because her university assignments took a lot of her time, but in Calypso’s case her studies had quite little to do with art so maybe the club would offer her a nice break from history.

And so, only a week later Calypso was participating in her first art class at the university club house. She looked curiously around her to see if she might know someone there from her history lectures, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. However, her attention focused on a girl with curly brown hair, dark skin and eyes so unusually colored that they stood out even from afar. Something about her fascinated Calypso and she decided to approach her.

“Hi!” she greeted.

“Hello. Is this your first time here as well?” the other girl asked.

“Yes! An architect student recommended this club for me so I decided to give it a shot,” Calypso explained.

“Mmmh. I’m not a college student – yet because I’m graduating from high school a bit late – but they graciously let me join when I showed them my art portfolio. I just felt like the high school art classes don’t have much to give me anymore so I wanted to try something different.”

“I see. So, is art something you’d like to do for living? Or just a hobby?” Calypso asked.

“To be honest? I’m not entirely sure yet,” the girl admitted. “Something happened that I was kind of out of it for a few months and that’s why it was hard to think about my future for a while. But one way or another I’ll probably still keep doing art no matter what.”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that…” Calypso said sympathetically.

“It’s in the past now, I’m fine!” the girl reassured. “Uh, I already told you that but I didn’t even ask you your name yet… What is it?”

“Calypso Astal. Yes, I know, like that music style… or that Greek sorceress…”

“I was not going to say that.” the girl shook her head, smiling politely. “I was simply going to say it’s nice to meet you, Calypso! My name is Hazel, Hazel Levesque.”

“Well, nice to meet you too, Hazel,” Calypso said, shaking her hand. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t sound rude… I’m just used to people making weird comments about my name.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! I can understand that very well. I’m a little too used to people’s comments about anything related to my life at this point…” she said sadly. Now Calypso knew what had drawn her to Hazel in the first place: somehow she had sensed that the girl was an outsider, just like she was.

“So, how long have you been drawing, Hazel?” Calypso decided to change the topic.

“Since I was small. It’s always felt like a good way to express my thoughts and also distract myself when things weren’t that great. What about you, though?”

“I think I’ve always been more or less interested in it, but I didn’t start drawing and painting more seriously until I was in high school. I had a lot of time in my hands then…” Calypso said vaguely.

“That’s cool! What else do you do in your free time?” Hazel asked when she realized Calypso wouldn’t elaborate more.

“I like all kinds of handicrafts – you know, from sewing to building small objects and tending flowers – and I also enjoy singing… although usually I do that just on my own…” Calypso admitted, sounding a little bit embarrassed.

“Wow, sounds like you’re such a multitalent!” the younger girl exclaimed. “I help take care of a horse – his name is Arion and a friend who is good with horses claims that he’s loud mouthed even though I have no idea how he can say that. Arion is just vocal, that’s all.”

Calypso snorted at that.

“Yeah, I believe you. My flatmate would probably claim that he’s entirely capable of understanding everything his dog says, though.”

“Aw, your flatmate has a dog?” Hazel asked.

“Yep, he does, but he is not allowed to have it in our flat. Though he still did, when I arrived, and the dog broke my desk. I wasn’t too happy with my flatmate after that but he hasn’t brought the dog in since then,” Calypso said, now able to smile at the memory.

“I’d love to have one too but for some reason a lot of the dogs seem a little afraid of me. I don’t know why.” Hazel shrugged. “But my, uh, friend studies to become a vet and he’s around animals a lot.”

“That sounds like a cool career. I never really got to be around animals a lot in my childhood… But I do remember enjoying watching birds from the window.” Calypso also remembered wishing she could fly freely like them but she decided to not say that out loud, wanting to focus on more positive things.

The conversation died off because the teacher started explaining the participants the schedule of their meetings and what kind of projects they would make. The first assignment sounded like a fun one in Calypso’s opinion: it was called “If I could be any other living creature”. That meant the students were allowed to draw or paint themselves as any animal or plant they could imagine themselves being. At first Calypso thought about drawing one of her favorite flowers but then she remembered her and Hazel’s discussion only from a moment ago and how she had wished she could be a bird. And that gave her an idea.

The bird she chose was called the Golden Oriole. She had only seen one in her childhood on a trip to northern Greece but she still remembered the yellow feathers and the dark wings very well. Her own hair had been lighter back then as well, more of golden blonde than the caramel brown it was naturally now (before the dyeing) which had really stood out with her dark eyes. That’s why her mother had teased her about looking like Golden Oriole. Thinking about those times made Calypso feel a bit homesick but she decided to channel her emotions into the painting instead of wallowing in them.  
Once she had gotten started, she took a peek at what Hazel was making. Hazel herself had depicted herself as a horse but somehow she had also time to sketch a bear next to it. That confused Calypso.  
“What does the bear represent?” she asked Hazel.

“It’s gonna be a panda,” Hazel clarified, “and it’s supposed to depict my best friend. I felt he deserved to be drawn too. He is big and strong like a panda but surprisingly soft inside… I want to show how these two animals, though very different, can get along really well.”

“That’s a great topic. And he sounds like a good guy,” Calypso said approvingly.

“He is,” Hazel nodded and took a look at Calypso’s work. “That looks pretty! So, you consider yourself a bird?”

“Well, at least I’d like to be.” She shrugged. “Maybe one day.”

“I sense something is restricting you,” Hazel commented. “But don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me more.”

“Thanks,” Calypso said with relief, and after that the girls focused on their drawings again.

…

Once the class was over, the girls continued talking on their way to the bus stop.

“I’m sorry, this might be a strange thing to say but… I got a bit different vibe from you than from most people in the class. Do you know why?” Hazel inquired.

“Could be because I’m technically a foreigner,” Calypso replied. “I was also homeschooled so… I haven’t really been in touch with people of my age a lot.”

“Really?” Hazel raised her eyebrows. “Where are you from?”

“Greece. But we moved from there when I was 10.”

“Your English is so good that I wouldn’t have been able to tell you’re not from here. I’ve lived in many places too. I was born in New Orleans but I’ve also lived in Alaska and San Francisco…”

“What brought you here, then?” Calypso asked.

Hazel seemed to hesitate a bit. “Uh, it’s a very long story. One I’d rather not talk about right now. But after I recovered from an accident I’ve been trying to find my place. My best friend moved to study here and he’s the closest family I have so I decided I’m gonna follow him.”

Calypso noticed that Hazel blushed a bit when she was talking about her friend.

“And your parents were OK with you moving?” she asked, having too much experience with overprotective parents.

“Uh…” Hazel started awkwardly. “I don’t really have any. Mom is dead and my dad only shows up when it’s convenient to him. I lived with a relative for a few months before I turned 18 but once I was that old, she told me that I was free to make my own decisions.”

“I’m so sorry. About your parents.” Calypso said sympathetically. For some reason she seemed to be pulling a lot of people with tragic backgrounds towards her.

“It might be awful to say this but I think my mom is in a better place now. She suffered a lot in her life,” Hazel said as an afterthought. 

Calypso only nodded, because really, what could you say to that? The other girl seemed to sense her hesitance because she continued:

“But don’t worry about me. Frank is the best and most protective friend I could have. And here I have found some new ones as well!”

“That is good!” Calypso said genuinely. She already felt like she could relate to this girl and wished a brighter future for her. “Um, I have some things I need to do at home but I’ll see you next week, right? And if you ever want to hang out outside the class, just message me.”

“I will!” Hazel promised and waved to her as goodbye.

…

Leo was making something to eat in the kitchen when Calypso arrived and he looked at the package in Calypso’s arms curiously.

“Hiya Sunshine, what you got there?” he asked.

“I was at the art club and did this,” Calypso said, taking the drawing from the bag and showing it to Leo.

“That’s a cool bird,” Leo mumbled while trying to swallow his sandwich. “Is there some deeper meaning to it?”

“Yes, it’s supposed to depict me,” Calypso answered, emphasizing the last word.

Leo looked back and forth between the drawing and the artist.

“I’m not really seeing the connection there.” He narrowed his eyes as if trying to see the drawing clearer. “You look nothing like that bird.”

“Leo Valdez!” Calypso yelled and marched angrily into her room, leaving poor Leo wonder what he did wrong.

“I just meant that you’re way prettier than any drawing of a bird could ever be,” he mumbled to himself before sighing and focusing on his meal again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso and Leo have a therapy session of sorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter and some (more) Caleo focus this time! About Leo's fear of fire: fire's obviously a big part of Leo's character and ofc I wanted to put that into this fic somehow. I always wished that he would have had a moment in HoO where he would have come to term with his issues (since he in fact didn't like using his power in TLH bc of reasons but then later on just seemed to forget about it) so, that's kind of what I'm trying to do in this fic. Now, don't worry, he'll definitely deal with his fear eventually!
> 
> Big thanks to Cris again for helping me solve some problem parts! :)) I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you think!!

As the fall progressed, Calypso got inspired to burn candles on the common room table to bring some light to the darkening evening. She had already forgotten about the fire alarm incident a few weeks before so when she heard a scream from the common room while she was reading, she didn’t immediately understand the reason for it.

“What’s wrong?” Calypso rushed into the room, worried something had happened to Leo.

“Don’t. never. ever. leave. a fire. here.” Leo breathed harshly and had to sit down to collect himself. He also looked paler than usually, Calypso noticed.

“But… it’s just a small candle… and there’s nothing burnable nearby… and the fire alarm won’t react to such a small flame either…” Calypso tried to reason. “What’s so bad about it?”

“It just is! You never know what it could do if you leave it unsupervised!” Leo exclaimed, gripping the couch fabric hard with both hands.

“I was just in my room, I would have noticed if something had happened!” Calypso said defensively. Then she remembered the talk she had had with Piper earlier and Leo’s burn marks. “Wait a minute. Is this about that fire... In your house?” she asked quietly, looking at Leo worriedly.

Leo was scowling at her, his expression screaming ‘how do you know about my house’, but he said nothing.

“Piper told me,” Calypso said as calmly as she could even though Leo did look kind of scary with his eyes burning as bright as the candle.

He ran his hand through his hair and made an annoyed growl. “What did she tell you exactly?” he asked after a while. Calypso had to admit to herself she hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from him, about a sole candle.

“Not much more, really. Just what happened to the house, that’s all,” she replied.

“Oh. OK. Good.” Leo seemed to calm down a bit after that piece of information even though he still kept glancing at the small flame nervously every once in a while and his hands were as fidgety as ever.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with being afraid after such an incident. I have gone through something similar myself. But I think I could be able to help you get over it. Isn’t it hard to be a mechanic who has to avoid fire? Don’t you have to for example weld the metals?”

Leo rubbed his neck awkwardly. “I usually get help from Jo with that,” he admitted.

“Okay. Well, would you let me help you?” Calypso asked.

“No sé," Leo said and Calypso remembered how Piper had told her Leo often goes for Spanish when he’s nervous.

“Please?” she attempted again, trying to make her best Piper impression. 

“Fine. Can’t hurt, can it?” he said, still a bit hesitantly.

“We’ll take it slowly. Promise.”

“Okay.”

Calypso sat down next to Leo on the sofa, which seemed to be a bit too close to the candle for his liking, but still far enough that he didn’t just leave. Then she turned towards him and gently lifted his chin so he was facing her directly.

“Now. Tell me a happy memory. Could be anything that comes to your mind. Just a moment you remember enjoying.”

“What kind of hocus pocus is this supposed to be?” Leo asked skeptically.

“It’s not hocus pocus!” Calypso said with annoyance. “It’s called positive reinforcement, making you associate fire with more positive things than you do now.”

“Fine,” Leo said, trying to think of a happy memory. He was quiet for a good while, almost enough for Calypso to break the silence, but then he finally continued: “One of my favorite memories is from the time I found out that I’d get to stay with Jo and Emmie. Until that moment everything felt so… unsure. I didn’t want to wish that it would actually happen because I was so scared of getting disappointed again. I had a bit too much experience on that already. But then they really sat me down and gave me the papers that would make it official. I have never written anything as fast in my life. After that we had a good meal – tacos, of course, because Jo and Emmie already knew I love them – and Georgie helped them bake a small cake. Best cake I’ve ever had.” He smiled crookedly at the memory.

“Oh, that’s a good one!” Calypso said encouragingly. “Very sweet. Your family sounds great. I’d love to meet them one day.”

“Maybe you will,” Leo shrugged. “They live in this town and sometimes drop me something I’ve forgotten.”

“That would be great! I mean, seeing them,” she added quickly, “not you forgetting something… although it’s not hard to imagine that happening to you,” she said teasingly.  
“Har har. You should know better than to think that kind of teasing would work on the great Leo Valdez.”

“Great? Sorry, Repair Boy, but you’re just too easy to tease.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too!”

“Is this your idea of distracting me, Sunshine?” Leo asked suddenly.

“What?”

“You are like, 3 inches from me,” he pointed out.

Calypso immediately jumped farther from Leo. She hadn’t even realized that as they were bickering, they had slowly inched closer to each other. Her face turned red and she seemed rather interested in the hem of her shirt when she muttered something like ‘idiot’ under her breath.

“What was that?” Leo asked, a mischievous smile rising on his face.

“Nothing,” Calypso mumbled.

“Anyway,” Leo decided to change the subject. “I shared a memory that’s important to me. I think it’s only fair that you do the same.”

Calypso felt like cursing him, still embarrassed by what had just happened, but then she remembered that she was trying to help Leo get rid of his fear of fire.  
“Okay.”

She had to think long and thoroughly. Her best memories were from the time when she had still been living with her mother in Greece, which had happened a long time ago. Finally, she remembered one specific moment.

“I was maybe 7. It was summer and we were on a vacation in Malta. My dad had a boat so my mum, my sister and I took it one day while dad was taking care of his businesses and we sailed for a good while until we found a small uninhabited island. We stopped and had a picnic there, nothing too fancy, simple bread and grapefruit, but something about that island… it felt like I was connected to it somehow. Later mum revealed that I had been born there. She and dad had been sailing a few weeks before her due date when she had suddenly started showing signs of being in labor and they had had no other choice but to stop there. It wasn’t until I was already in this world that a medical helicopter had picked them to the hospital.”

“Woah. That’s kinda crazy," Leo commented, looking genuinely interested in her story.

“Yeah. Fate works funny sometimes. Would be interesting to visit that place some time again.”

“Mmmh. I’d like to see some of the world outside this country at some point too.” Leo nodded.

“Well, did it work?” Calypso asked all of a sudden, changing the subject.

“Did what work?” Leo asked with confusion.

“This? Talking? Did it make you forget the fire?” Calypso clarified.

“Oh!” Leo glanced at the flame again but he realized that he had already gotten used to its presence. “You know what? I think it did.”

“Good.”

“But do not push your luck more,” Leo grinned, blowing the flame off. Calypso felt something weird in her stomach when she saw the light reflect from his eyes for a moment. But the moment was gone almost as fast as it had happened and it became darker in the room. Suddenly Calypso felt Leo reach for her hand, squeezing it briefly and telling her: “Thanks, Cal. Maybe we can continue this some other day.”

Calypso was thankful for the lack of light because she was convinced her face was currently more red than her newly dyed hair.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso meets Leo's family members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say this time. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! There are a couple of very fluffy Caleo centered chapters coming up after this but then we'll finally get to see some drama too. 
> 
> Don't forget that I love to read even the shortest of comments!!

Calypso was in the middle of doing research for a university group project when the doorbell rang, startling her. The only people who used it were some fellow students living in the same building who tried to invite them to some event (Calypso usually politely declined. In her opinion there were better ways to make friends than loud parties where you couldn’t hear the others and they wouldn’t even be remembering you the next day). In that moment she wasn’t expecting any guests and Leo would naturally be using his own keys when he’d be back from wherever he was. For one, paranoid moment Calypso considered the option that her father had somehow found out about this flat, but then she decided to go see who it was because maybe Leo had simply forgotten his keys and someone had let him in, or something.

She sighed of relief when she saw an elderly dark skinned, short haired woman with a young, tall girl next to her. The girl was wearing denim overalls and a white shirt and the smile on her face somehow reminded Calypso of Leo even though the two of them weren’t biologically related. In her hands she was holding a leash that belonged to a huge German shepherd. They must have been Leo’s family members.

“Hello,” she greeted when opening the door for the newcomers.

“Oh, hello,” the woman answered, apparently slightly surprised to see Calypso. “Isn’t Leo home?” She tilted her head towards his room as if trying to hear the usual clanking of tools from there.  
“I’m afraid not, miss. He had to run some errands or something,” Calypso replied, adjusting the cuffs of her white shirt nervously.

“That’s quite unlike him,” the woman noted. “He’s never late when it comes to Festus. Anyway, I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Josephine, but you can call me Jo. I assume you’re Leo’s new flatmate?” she asked in the same breath.

Calypso extended her arm for Jo, hoping she wouldn’t notice her nervousness.

“Yes, I’m Calypso. It’s nice to meet you, Jo! Leo has talked a lot about you. And you’re probably Georgina?” she asked the girl.

“That’s me,” she nodded happily. “And we have Festus with us!”

“I can see that.” Calypso smiled back at the girl, letting the dog sniff her.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Jo interrupted. “I’m sure you’re not too happy with him after what happened the last time he was here. Leo told us all about it.”

“It’s… it’s OK,” Calypso managed to say. “If I’m honest, I was more annoyed at Leo than Festus back then. He was responsible for him, after all.” Then she realized the guests were still standing in the hallway. “Sorry, please come in. I’m sure Leo will be here soon if you told him you’re coming.”

Calypso showed the duo where they could leave their coats and then led them to the living room sofas where they could chat more comfortably. 

“I hope you have talked things out, though?” Jo asked once they sat down, eyeing Calypso mildly worriedly. “He’s a good kid, just very enthusiastic about mechanics and good at getting distracted.”

“Hmm, yes, we’ve had a couple of good talks,” Calypso replied, but decided it was better to leave the other day’s brief handholding out of this conversation. After all, she herself wasn’t sure what to think of it. “I do also have to give him some credit for fixing the desk.”

“Sounds like our boy has done something right,” Jo said approvingly. “He’s… very different from what he used to be when we adopted him.”

“Really?” Calypso asked, curiosity getting the better of her. “What do you mean with that?”

“Well…” Jo started carefully. “I’m sure you know he’s still pretty restless, always going places, but back then he quite literally didn’t know what to do with himself. He had no plans and he was acting borderline suicidal, trying to drown his feelings in wrong ways instead of dealing with them."

“I didn't know…” Calypso started, but Jo stopped her.

“Before you judge him too hard, though, know that he did that because he had been through a lot and was screaming for help. Somehow we managed to give him that, and after a couple of months of living with us he was already doing a bit better and kept progressing all the time. We would trust our lives with him. He also refound his love for tinkering – his real mother was a mechanic too and he had learned a lot from her in his childhood – and decided that he wanted to follow both her and my footsteps. I know he’s embarrassed when I say this out loud but we really are proud of him.”

“That’s… that’s great,” Calypso said, a bit overwhelmed by this load of information. Not knowing what else to say, she decided to focus on Festus and scratch behind the dog’s ear. He seemed to accept her surprisingly fast.

“Look, mom, Festus lets her pet him!” Georgina pointed out to Jo. “Every time I bring friends home we have to tie him because he’s always a bit too enthusiastic with new people…”

“That’s right, looks like he really likes you, Calypso.” Jo nodded. “He isn’t usually this calm with strangers.”

“Maybe he doesn’t consider me a stranger anymore now that he’s already broken my desk,” Calypso attempted to joke.

“Hah, maybe,” Georgina chuckled. Calypso was finally starting to relax a bit among the new people when the group heard key sounds from behind the door and only a moment later Leo fumbled in with a lot of bags in his hands.

" _Hola, Jo! Y mi hermanita!_ " he said instantly when he noticed the newcomers. “Sorry I’m late, the traffic was murder. I swear, people are getting more and more idiotic with their cars every day…” He shook his head at no one really.

“No worries, Calypso has kept us company meanwhile,” Georgina said and let Festus run to his owner.

“Hi boy, have you been good?” he cooed as Festus ran and jumped around him excitedly. “Has Georgie remembered to feed you?”

“I so have, why would you even question that?” Georgina retorted back. “And I’m not your _hermanita_ , I will be taller than you when I’m older!”

“Georgie always likes to put me back to earth,” Leo addressed Calypso who had been following the situation with amusement. “You may be right but that doesn't mean it doesn’t hurt.” He said to Georgina then, clutching his heart dramatically.

“Drama queen,” the girl stuck her tongue out at him, only getting a chuckle and a head pat as a response.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Calypso asked the guests, interrupting the playful banter. “I imagine Leo rarely offers anything but I have some juice and tea and even some pie in the freezer.”  
Leo gave her a side eye but Georgina was immediately tempted.

“Yay! Mom, can we please stay?” she asked, making some impressive puppy eyes.

“We need to go back home soon because I still have some chores to do, but sure, I guess we can stay for one cup,” Jo agreed and got an approving smile from her daughter. Before Calypso had time to go and prepare the snack for the guests, though, Leo pulled her to the side and asked:

“Uh, hey, are you OK with this? Festus staying here? I mean, I should have asked you first before letting them bring him here…”

“Yes, I want to kick them all out right now, as you can see,” Calypso answered sarcastically. “No, Leo, it’s fine. I appreciate your concern. Just keep him out of my room when I’m trying to do my assignments and we are good.” She even managed to give him a small smile.

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll try to do that,” Leo grinned back and let Calypso go back to getting her pie from the freezer.

…

“Wow Calypso, you’re good at baking!” Georgina announced after taking a few bites from the strawberry pie. “My moms have tried to teach me but I don’t think I’m very good at it… I always forget some ingredient or leave it in the oven for too long or something…”

“She’s her brother’s sister, I’ve always had a hard time following recipes too,” Leo noted. “But don’t worry, Georgie, I’m better at it now so I’m sure you can do it too.”

“Yeah, _onii-chan_ , because if you can do it, anyone can.” 

“Who has taught you to be so mean, miss Weeaboo?” Leo asked, but didn’t seem to actually mind his adopted sister’s words.

“Hmm, I wonder who,” Calypso interrupted, then turning Georgina. “If you want to, I can try to help you some time. If that’s fine with your mothers, of course.”

“We don’t have any problem with that!” Jo said reassuringly. “As long as it’s not too much work for you.”

“Oh, no, it’s not,” Calypso promised. “I haven’t found a new job yet so I do have some time after I’ve finished my university work.”

“In that case I’ll allow it,” Jo nodded. “Maybe Leo can take you with him some time when he comes home.”

Calypso had to consider that idea for a moment. She and Leo may have been flatmates but there was still plenty they didn’t know about each other and visiting the other’s childhood home (even if he had moved there only after turning 15) felt like taking the ‘next step’. And she had just met these people. But she had been the one to suggest baking in the first place, and when Georgina kept looking at her expectantly, she couldn’t deny the girl the opportunity.

“Yeah, maybe,” she replied, and Georgina’s grateful smile widened.

After that the group moved to other topics. Calypso told Leo’s family what she studied and Jo explained what she and Emmie did at the Waystation. They had a small farm and a mechanic business in the same space and they also fostered animals and even allowed travelers to stay a night in one of the wings of the big building. It sounded like a safe haven for those in need of a place like that and Calypso found herself more and more interested in seeing it with her own eyes.

Soon Jo and Georgina had to leave, though, leaving the flatmates alone.

“What do you think?” Leo asked curiously when Calypso started collecting the dishes.

“I think they’re great people,” Calypso answered a bit absent-mindedly. “You’re lucky to have found someone like them.”

She turned to see Leo’s reaction and to her surprise she saw a bit of hurt in his eyes.

“Yeah… Lucky…” he said, thinking about something Calypso no idea of. “But it was quite a hell-ish road there…”

Calypso remembered what Jo had told about his state before they had managed to intervene and also some bits and pieces she had gotten from her earlier conversations with Leo and his friends. He had been through a lot and she shouldn’t feel jealousy about his new family just because he had found some stability in the past few years. He understood what it felt like to have a broken family probably even better than she did…

Leo seemed to have picked on Calypso’s mood shift so he hurried to add: “But you know what they say? _Mi familia es tu familia_. You heard them; you’re welcome to come with me any time you’d like.”  
Calypso was still a bit hesitant about the thought of her going to Leo’s family home but after talking with Jo and Georgina, she had started thinking maybe it wouldn’t be that bad an idea.

“I’ll consider that offer,” Calypso said, smiling shyly. “After all, it would be a shame to disappoint Georgina!”

“Her… or me too?” Leo asked twinkle in his eye, which, to Calypso’s annoyance, worked better than it should have.

“Only her, of course,” she answered coolly. “Why on earth would I disappoint you? And a better question, why would I care?”

“No reason,” Leo grinned, probably sensing the hidden undertones in her answer. “Just asking.”

When the two of them split to continue their own chores, Calypso wondered in her mind if she had really promised that just for Georgina… or maybe a bit (just a little) for Leo too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domestic moments, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the beginning of a few chapters long 'arc' where Leo and Calypso mainly just do domestic things such as cooking while they learn to know each other better. I know, why several chapters about cooking? Because I can, and because I wanted some fluff before some angst ensues (yes, some of that is coming soon too).
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy, and remember that I love hearing what you think!!
> 
> Ps. @ my wonderful beta/support Cris, thanks for being there for me for 2 whole years already :')

Calypso often ate at the university cafeteria instead of her flat whenever Annabeth, Piper or some acquaintances from her history lectures joined her, but today everyone had been busy and she decided to make something herself. She quite enjoyed cooking but it was different to cook just for yourself compared to a bigger group of people. The packages grocery stores sold were often huge and eating the same leftovers several days in a row wasn’t something Calypso wanted to do constantly. This time, though, she considered asking Leo to join her. There was one ‘but’, though.

After the ‘therapy session’ and meeting Jo and Georgina, Calypso had felt a bit weird near Leo, but she didn’t understand - or want to acknowledge - why. She definitely didn’t hate him anymore, having realized there was much more under that snarky and carefree cover than what she had first thought. But she found herself wanting to avoid talking to him, a change that hadn’t been left unnoticed by Leo, who had tried to start a conversation with her several times in the past few days and only gotten short answers before she had come up with some excuse to leave.

What Calypso didn’t want to admit to herself was that the butterflies that she felt in her stomach when near this boy were all too familiar to her. Back when she had done online dating, because there was no way her dad would have let her go on actual dates on her own, she found herself crushing quite easily on the guys she chatted with, only to get disappointed each and every time. The last time had probably been the hardest. The guy, Percy, had genuinely seemed nice, respectful, and caring. They had even managed to organize a short meeting behind Calypso’s dad’s back, only for Percy to tell her that he was sorry but he had started realizing that he had feelings for a long time friend. Calypso did appreciate the honesty but she wished that Percy would have realized that a bit earlier instead of giving her false hope. After that experience she had quit online dating and decided that she would not let herself get hurt again. Especially not by her new flatmate. Things would get really awkward if they… no, she didn’t want to let herself even consider that option.

However, she didn’t think her avoidance tactic was working so the second best option was to simply try to get used to being as neutral as possible in Leo’s company. That’s why she finally decided to brace herself and ask Leo to join her for her cooking session. Knocking on his door, she shouted: “Valdez!” and soon it opened, revealing Leo in his work attire (oily overalls and grease on his cheek. See, Calypso, not attractive at all, she tried to tell herself). He gave her his annoying (maybe just a bit cute) trademark lopsided grin and for one - just one - second Calypso forgot what she was supposed to ask him. When he continued looking at her questioningly, she finally blurted: “wannacomecookwithme?”

Leo’s eyebrows disappeared under his curly fringe.“What? Sorry, Sunshine, I have many talents but gibberish isn’t one of them.”

“Uh, would you want to come and cook with me? Also, why do you call me Sunshine?” she managed to ask a bit slower, blushing of embarrassment.

“Oh, I thought you usually eat at the university. But since you asked… I have to finish this one part before I can have a break,” Leo gestured at the stereos he was fixing. “But if you help me, I’ll get it done faster and then we can cook. And about that nickname,” he added cheekily, “clearly it’s because your presence warms me up like the sun.”

Calypso wasn’t sure if she should feel honored or offended. “Don’t try to mess with me, Valdez. That won’t work. But fine, I can help you as long as you don’t say things like that again.”

“Not sure I can promise that.” Leo waggled his eyebrows, causing Calypso to roll her eyes. “But I can try.”

“So…” Calypso said, starting to inspect Leo’s room. She hadn’t seen it that closely before, and she had to admit she was kind of curious. As she had expected, Leo wasn’t the cleanest of people. Sure, he had made his bed, and there wasn’t dirty laundry on the floor like she had half expected, but the area surrounding his workbench was a mess. The waste bin was overflowing with abandoned blueprints (some of them on the floor), there were bolts, nuts and nails everywhere Calypso turned her eyes to, and an oil stain on the floor that Leo had tried to rub clean but failed. “What can I do?”

“Uh,” Leo rubbed the back of his head. “My floor could probably use some cleaning. Can’t have Festus eat any of those.” He pointed at the fallen metal parts.

“When is he coming here again?” Calypso asked as she started picking up the nails. Leo had taken the dog back to his home the previous Sunday, and Calypso had noticed she didn't mind having him around anymore.

“Not quite sure yet but Jo and Emmie are planning to visit a friend in another state soon so he needs someone to look after him while they’re gone.” Leo shrugged.

“Good to know. You know, I’d like to learn to know him better.”

“Oh? You would?” Leo asked, surprised.

“I’ve never had a lot of animals around me but I think I’d learn to like them if I spent some time with them,” Calypso confessed.

“In that case, it’s a date!” Leo said happily, not noticing that Calypso’s face went red because he was busy with his work.

“It’s a… what?”

Leo must have realized he had said something weird because his ears also started burning. “I… I meant with you and Festus, of course! You’re allowed to hang out with him as much as you want.”  
“Right. Of course.” Calypso nodded, trying to look as calm as possible. Why was this so hard, she cursed to herself. They were only talking about Leo’s dog and even that seemed to make her act weird.

“Can I ask you something?” she broke the silence after a while. “What kind of food do you like?”

The question seemed to amuse Leo. “To be honest, all kinds. But I eat a lot of Mexican food that my mum used to make us. You know, the basics. Tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos… I love it all.

“Then you’re in luck because I was thinking of making tacos,” Calypso said, not taking her eyes off of the items she was picking.

“I like the sound of that!” Leo nodded approvingly. “I’m a taco sauce pro, just sayin’.” 

“Is that so?” Calypso asked. “You’d better be good because I don’t eat just any taco sauce.”

“Picky one, are you? Well, don’t worry because Leo Valdez’ sauce supreme has been approved even by the principal of our university,” Leo said smugly.

“The what?” Calypso wasn’t sure if she had heard correctly.

“The principal,” Leo repeated. “He happens to be my friend Jason’s father. Jason and he don’t really communicate that much but the only time he visited us here in this flat I happened to be making tacos and of course he wanted to get to taste them, because who wouldn’t… and he didn’t hate them so it was definitely a win.”

“Oh. I see,” Calypso replied, unsure if she should be amused or not.

“But hey, in the name of solidarity, since we’re making Mexican food you could add something Greek into the mix so you won't be completely overshadowed by my awesome-sauce,” Leo said.

“Such confidence. You must be incredible,” Calypso said sarcastically and half expected Leo to say something like ‘heck yeah I am’ in return, but instead she noticed his smile had started fading a bit. Maybe, a thought occurred to her, he really wasn’t as confident as he made himself sound. Maybe the humor was his way to hide something. But what, she didn’t know yet.

“That’s what they say,” he finally answered but Calypso thought that if you paid attention to his tone he really didn’t sound as enthusiastic as a moment before.

“Truth to be told, I’m not that amazing at cooking Greek food,” Calypso admitted. “My mum and dad got separated around the time we moved to the USA and dad mostly ordered takeaway to our home, but I do know the basics. A Greek salad would be fine, right?”

Leo still seemed a bit distracted. “Uh. Oh. Right.”

“Okay, it’s a deal then.” Trying to think of something that would get Leo back to the usual cheerful self, she asked then: “Hey, do you think we could invite Piper and Jason over? I may have bought too many ingredients again so some extra eating help wouldn’t hurt. And I’d like to meet this Jason who used to live in my room.”

Leo seemed relieved by the change of topic. “Sure! Although you might regret it because Jason is quite a gluttony. He’s a decathlete so he spends his days practicing and he’s hungry a lot…”

“I think we can handle that,” Calypso laughed.

Leo claimed that the reason why the stereos he was trying to fix were not working was because someone had poured a drink on them at a party. Apparently he was very tempted to make them play ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley nonstop instead of the songs the owner wanted to hear (“You can do that?” Calypso asked with surprise). Luckily, she managed to talk him out of it. 

Calypso didn’t understand that much about the inner mechanics of the stereos so she was mainly giving Leo the tools he wanted while he worked, but she did find it pretty fascinating to watch. Leo was so different when he was working on his projects. He was more focused. Calmer (yet still fast and effective). He knew exactly what he needed to do and where everything went, and it all seemed so effortless, even though Calypso knew it was actually way more complicated than it seemed. In a way his determination to finish his project reminded her of herself when she decided to finish a piece of clothing or a carpet or whatever she wanted to make to forget…

Yet again Calypso started wondering what exactly Leo was hiding from her. She hoped that one day they’d trust each other enough that he’d be able to open up… and maybe she’d be able to open up too.  
“Okay! Done!” Leo exclaimed, snapping Calypso out of her thoughts. He seemed happy about the result despite saying: “I still think these would be better with some Rick Astley, though.”

“I have to make a mental note to never break any of my machines if that’s how you want to treat them,” Calypso said.

“Trust me, the owner of these guys would deserve it. He’s an ass, I dunno how he made it to the university when his main goal is to throw parties every night.”

“And have you ever been to any of those parties?” Calypso asked, remembering Jo’s vague hints about Leo’s earlier bad habits.

“Once. It was not worth it. The chicks were pretty,” he noticed Calypso’s expression so he decided to change his approach, “uh, but it isn’t fun to be the only sober one there.”

“So, you don’t drink?” Calypso asked, not wanting to sound like she knew more than she should. “Not that it’s any of my business…”

“No, not anymore,” Leo admitted. “I… had it kinda rough before I moved to Jo and Emmie’s and I promised them I wouldn’t… And it’s a promise I am planning to keep. Besides, my ADHD and alcohol don’t mix well.”

Calypso realized it was the first time he mentioned his ADHD, which confirmed what she had already suspected. “Yeah. I understand. I don’t really care about that stuff myself.”

“Then I guess there’ll be two sober ones in case we ever go to a party together.” Leo smiled at her, but it wasn’t the usual mischievous grin, instead a much softer one. Calypso felt something weird in her stomach and a sudden urge to get any kind of physical contact with him, take his hand, touch his shoulder, that smudge on his face…

She had to shake his head to get rid of those thoughts, and that seemed to burst the weird bubble that had developed between them. Leo noticed it too, so he quickly said: “Um, I think we should test that this works. Don’t want Mr. Douche… I mean Dion to complain that I did a bad job.”

“Right,” Calypso said. “Anyway, I should probably go and get things prepared for the dinner. Will you contact Piper and Jason?”

“Will do. Any background music wishes?” Leo asked when Calypso was already out of the room.

“Anything as long as it’s not Never Gonna Give You Up,” Calypso joked, suddenly realizing that she had certainly started doing that more since moving in this flat.

“As you wish, Sunshine,” she heard the answer from Leo’s room. Soon a song she recognized from her childhood started playing. It was ‘Mermaid’ by a band called Train. She had loved all things sea related back then so it wasn’t a surprise that she was weirdly fond of that song too. Glad that Leo wasn’t seeing, she started jamming and humming the song quietly in the kitchen as she searched for the ingredients they’d be needing.

Thinking about the lyrics of the song, maybe her life really had started becoming more like a holiday lately. For various reasons, one of them possibly the curly haired mechanic next door.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domestic moments, pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues from where we were left of in the previous one! And sadly (or not sadly? I guess it depends on what you like) it's still not the last 'domestic moments' chapter; I had to cut this one in half because of time issues. But worry not, some drama is ahead in a few chapters.  
> About those 'time issues': I haven't been able to write quite as much as I would have liked lately because I am working part time and this week I've also had this distraction called the Tower of Nero. Yes, I am reading it right now and really enjoying it although I'm still kinda worried about if we are gonna find out anything about our beloved OTP (aka Caleo in this case, of course) in this book. No spoilers, and I'd ask you to /not/ talk any spoilerific stuff in comments either (including whether Caleo makes any kind of appearance or not. I don't want to know anything)
> 
> Well, that said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope it shows! Let me know :)

Once Leo had finished testing the fixed stereos and sent Jason a message to ask if he and Piper had time to visit that day, he joined Calypso in the kitchen. She had already gathered all the ingredients on the table and started chopping the vegetables, smiling as she worked. For a moment Leo thought that nothing was hotter than a woman who enjoyed what she was doing that much. He didn’t even realize he was staring.

“You can start by preheating the oven and preparing the baking sheet, I didn’t have time to do that yet,” she noted calmly when she noticed him looking at her questioningly.

“Aye aye, Captain,” Leo said, saluting her like a sailor would.

“I’m a captain now?” Calypso asked, her mouth twitching ever so slightly.

“Oh, you can be anything you want. Captain. Boss lady. The Queen of the flat number 7.”

“How about you just do what I said, peasant,” Calypso said, but Leo was happy that she had joined his game. It was a good sign.

“Not a peasant, Sunshine. You can call me Commander Tool Belt.” Leo smirked and earned a roll of eyes from Calypso.

“How do you come up with all these nicknames?” she asked while focusing on cutting the tomatoes.

“It’s a talent. Something I was born with,” Leo answered while finally turning the oven on and starting to search for the baking sheet.

“You know, really no offense but sometimes I can’t tell if you’re being serious or if you’re just fooling around.” Calypso had now stopped the chopping and she crossed her arms, looking at him seriously.  
“Want some honesty? Usually I joke the most when I’m nervous.” The grin had disappeared from Leo’s face and the sunlight that was coming through the window made his eyes look like flames again.

To his surprise, Calypso asked: “Are you… are you nervous around me?”

“What do you think?” Leo blurted without thinking. He noticed Calypso seemed kind of taken aback by his answer, so he added quickly: “I mean… girls in general make me nervous.” He had lost track of times he had felt his ears and face heat in this girl’s company.

“Really?” Calypso asked. “But I’ve seen you with Piper many times now and you act quite naturally with her.”

“I’ve known her for over a year now. She’s a good friend and easy to talk with when you get to know her.” Leo shrugged.

“I guess we two are not there yet,” Calypso said, and Leo thought he could detect a bit of disappointment in her voice. “Since you are still nervous around me.”

“I didn’t mean…” For once Leo decided to pick his words carefully. “Um, I think you’re a cool person. Sure, kinda withdrawn but so am I with new people. That means I haven’t gotten to know you as well as Piper yet. But I’d like to. You know. Get to know you better. If that’s cool with you.”

He noticed a hint of pink rise to her cheeks but didn’t say anything about that. She answered: “Oh. Sure. I mean, since we are sharing this flat and all…”

The atmosphere had gotten slightly awkward again so Leo decided to do what he did the best: be goofy. He dug a few long spaghetti noodles from his food storage, cut them in half and put them in his mouth, making them look like walrus tusks.

“Say ‘hola’ to your new friend, Commander Walrus.”

“Estás loco,” Calypso said in clear Spanish, and Leo’s mouth dropped. If he hadn’t thought she was attractive before…

“You… know Spanish? How come you only mention that now?!” He inquired.

“I don’t really know much of it,” Calypso said. “I studied it a couple of years at school as a kid but since I haven’t used it after that, I don’t remember much anymore. So don’t expect me to understand you.”

“Oh, OK. Well, if you ever want to revive your skills, you have a Spanish master right here!”

“Somehow I can’t imagine you explaining the conjugations of irregular verbs to me, but OK, I’ll consider it,” Calypso said, gently pulling one of the noodles from Leo’s mouth. Leo was awfully aware how close she was to him again. Then she broke his hopes and dreams by lightly poking him on the nose with the noodle half and saying: “But now, Commander Noodle, how about you stop distracting me, or otherwise Jason and Piper won’t have anything to eat when they arrive.”

“Spoilsport,” Leo pouted but did what he was told and put the other spaghetti noodle away, starting to pull out the ingredients he needed.

Calypso was already done with her salad by the time Leo put his tacos in the oven and he felt her eyes on him the whole time.

“What are you looking at?” he asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable about the attention all of a sudden.

“I…” Calypso seemed a bit hesitant. “... was just thinking you seem pretty handy with that stuff… Did your mothers teach you?”

“Jo and Emmie are wonderful people but they have a rule in their household that you don’t get to eat if you don’t work for it, so yes, I’ve done a lot of cooking since I moved there. But I already knew a lot before that. I kinda had to.”

“Right,” Calypso said, and Leo was glad she didn’t ask more. He wasn’t feeling like opening up about being forced to cook for the other kids of his earlier foster parents while they were too drunk to do that or having to search for food from trash cans while on the run. “So, will you teach me to make that sauce supreme?” she asked then.

Leo wagged his finger at her. “Listen, Sunshine, it’s a skill. You don’t teach it just like that. But I can see what I can do.”

“Alright,” Calypso said, smiling slightly.

“Now, first things first,” Leo started. “I like saving most of the seasoning for the sour cream instead of the meat. The hard part is of course knowing how much different spices you should put in. I say, the more, the better. If it doesn’t open your stuffy nose, then it’s not enough.”

“But what if you don’t like spicy food?” Calypso asked.

“Then what are you even eating tacos for?” Leo rolled his eyes. “Well, if you really don’t like it, then you can of course put less spices than I do, but honestly, what’s the point if you don’t feel at least a bit like a dragon that can breathe fire?”

“Sounds tough. To be honest, I don’t eat a lot of spicy food so I’m not sure what to expect,” Calypso confessed.

“In that case you’re lucky that you have a master to teach you, then.” Leo grinned.

“Sure,” Calypso looked at him with slight amusement. “Well, show me, Master. What do you use?”

“I like to begin with the most important one just so I don’t accidentally forget it: the chili powder.” Leo said, putting some chili into the sour cream while talking. “If you decide you don’t like spicy food, then in the future don’t use chili as much as I do. But I like putting almost a full teaspoon. If I’m feeling brave, I might put even more. Then some cumin and paprika, but not as much as the chili, and finish it with a bit of salt and black pepper. And voila, that’s all you need!”

“That’s all?” Calypso raised her eyebrows. “I thought it would be something very complicated based on your bragging.”

“Now, now, don’t underestimate simple things, woman!” Leo wagged his finger at her. “Sometimes simple is the best. That’s my motto with my inventions too. If you really wanted to, you could also add a bit of tomato sauce on top of the tacos, but since we are gonna use your fresh tomatoes, I don’t see the need for that.”

Calypso looked like she might have been about to protest, but then the oven clock informed them that the tacos would be ready to be served, and the conversation ended there.

Once Leo had put the toppings on the tacos, he took a spoonful of his sour cream sauce and put it in front of Calypso’s mouth. “Here. Taste this. Since you are a rookie, I was a bit more sparing with the chili, but just this one time.”

She did what he told her and tasted it. After swallowing and taking the flavor in, she finally said: “That’s not bad! You do surprise me, oh great sauce master Valdez.”

“You really shouldn’t be that surprised, but whatever,” Leo said. “It will be even better once the flavors have spread more but I didn’t have time to let the sauce sit in the fridge this time.”

“Okay. Hey, have you ever eaten olives?” Calypso asked, a funny expression spreading on her face.

“Maybe as a kid…” Leo shrugged, remembering the times he’d still been living with his mother. “They don’t look particularly appetizing to me.”

“Well, then I think it’s time for an equivalent exchange. Since I tasted your taco sauce, you’ll taste olives,” she said and took one that had remained left from her salad into her hand. Then she turned Leo’s head to face her and urged him to open his mouth.

“Seriously? You’re feeding them to me?” he asked, half annoyed, half amused, but took the olive into his mouth. He didn’t really like the bitter taste of it. “Uh, did you put a lot of these in the salad?” He looked at it suspiciously.

“I did. Any complaints?”

Leo tried to come up with something to avoid answering the question. When he spotted the red chili peppers on the kitchen counter, he got an idea. “I tell you what. I will consider not picking them from my salad if you manage to eat at least half of this.” He showed the peppers and was half expecting her to say a hearty ‘no way!’, but she surprised him.

“That’s a low blow, Valdez. Lucky for you, I’m up for the challenge.”

“Okay,” Leo said, cutting one pepper in half and offering it to her. “I have to warn you, though; this is the strongest pepper I have, so it is hot.”

Calypso took the pepper from him and cautiously took a bite from the tip. It took her a second to react. “Oh. My. Gods. Water, water, water!!!”

“You’re gonna want to drink milk with that, it helps much more than water,” Leo adviced and took out a clean glass from the cupboard and a milk carton from the fridge. He also cut a small slice of soft bread he had bought earlier and gave it to her.

“Here. Take this. And don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he smirked. Calypso glared at him, but took Leo’s offerings and seemed relieved to notice that it actually helped.

“I’m not going to eat more of that,” she announced, only making Leo grin wider.

“That’s fine,” he said. “But I won’t be eating olives either because you lost the bet.”

“Yes you will, after making me eat that.”Calypso glared at him.

“Nope!”

“Yes, it’s only fair!” Calypso kept insisting.

“But a deal is a deal!” Leo said back.

“But I didn’t realize the chili pepper would be that much worse than the olives!”

“You’re a sore loser, Sunshine!”

“And you’re a brat!”

“Fine, then I am. But I’m still not eating the olives!” Leo said and started sprinting away from her towards his room where he could lock the door from her.

“Oh, so this is the game you’re playing?” Calypso exclaimed and started chasing him. On her way she picked one olive from the plate to stuff into his mouth. Leo was fast but Calypso got surprisingly agile too when she wanted to and so she caught him right before he got into his room. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and before he could protest, put the olive into his mouth. Leo accepted his fate and ate it despite the urge to just spit it out.

“You won this round, woman, but don’t get too used to it!” he said, slightly out of breath. Suddenly the silliness of the situation sunk into both of them and they started laughing hard enough that they had to lean against each other.

“I never have a boring moment with you, Leo Valdez,” Calypso hiccuped against his shoulder.

“Well, likewise, Sunshine.”

Leo’s heart seemed to do extra rounds when he watched her laughing and he was very much aware that they were still in a half hug position. Calypso noticed that he had stopped laughing so she raised her gaze to look at his face and the color her cheeks got was the same that Leo’s ears sure were: similar to the red pepper.

“What…” he was about to ask but the moment was broken just as fast as it had started: the buzzer made a sound, informing them that Jason and Piper were there.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso meets Jason (domestic moments part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first: I finished The Tower of Nero the other day. Otherwise I liked it, except... well, I don't want to spoil anything but those who know my shipping preferences (which should be p obvious based on the fics I've written :'D) and who have read the second to last chapter in ToN... might understand that I have some grudges towards the said part. I might honestly try to write another fix it fic but meanwhile, have another fluffy chapter (oh gods do I even write anything else?)! The amazing thing about writing AU:s is that I get to develop things exactly the way I want, and that's what keeps me want to continue with this fic. (Ps. if someone knows what I'm talking about above, feel free to talk about it in the comments! I'd love to get some steams out. Also, Reyna rules)
> 
> Anyways, sorry for the rant! I hope you enjoy this silly little chapter, and please leave a comment if you like it!

Calypso and Leo didn’t have time to recover from the electric moment before there was already a knock on the door. After Leo opened the door and greeted the newcomers, they soon noticed Calypso still standing near the kitchen counter with a tint of red on her face. Piper, who had already met her, just waved her hand happily as a greeting, but Jason stepped closer, offered his hand to her and said: “So, you must be Calypso. I’m Jason, the one who used to live in your room.”

“Y-yes, Leo mentioned that,” Calypso stuttered as she shook his hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. And Piper you already know.” He gestured towards the brunette who nodded. “She told me about her visit. Leo, on the other hand, has been kind of vague about you.”  
“Oh? The flatmate I know can be quite a loudmouth when he wants to.” Calypso looked at Leo with surprise.

“You two just met and she’s already roasting me to you…” Leo said, pretending to be embarrassed. “This is my life now.”

Jason snorted. “Maybe that’s good for Mr. Super Sized McShizzle’s ego.”

“Super Sized McShizzle? Oh my gods, the nicknames never end. Did he give that to himself?” Calypso asked, having to stifle a laughter. 

“He did,” Piper confirmed and Calypso couldn’t stop herself from laughing. Even if she was doing it at his expense, Leo was happy to realize it was already the second time she laughed that day, in a short period of time. For some reason the thought made something bubble in his chest.

“OK, now that we have that established, can we move on?” Leo asked impatiently.

“No.” Piper smirked playfully, apparently interested in the current topic. “What does he call you, Calypso?”

“Sunshine. I don’t really know why, though.” Calypso shrugged. “Maybe he’s being sarcastic.”

“Aww, sarcastic or not, I think that’s cute,” Piper said. “His nickname for me is Beauty Queen. I hate that nickname, to be honest. He knows I don’t really care about how I look.”

“What about you, Jason? What’s his nickname for you?” Calypso asked, already feeling more relaxed with the guests.

“Well, sometimes he calls me Lightning Boy because I used to help around at an electronics store and once I accidentally blew a fuse there… It was easily fixed, though, but Leo thought it was funny. Sometimes he also likes to use Sparky or the nicknames my friend Percy has given me: Golden Boy and Blonde Superman. Don’t ask.” Jason rolled his eyes.

Calypso’s eyes flashed strangely when she heard the name Percy but then she probably decided that the name must have simply been a coincidence because soon she asked Jason something else. Leo was relieved to see that Calypso seemed to like both of his best friends as they kept up a light hearted conversation while setting the table for the dinner.

Once they were ready to start eating, Jason asked Calypso: “By the way, feel free to ignore my question if you think it’s too personal, but I noticed that you said ‘oh my gods’ in plural at one point. Do you have any specific reason for that?”

“I guess I kinda do,” Calypso confessed as she sat down on her seat and crossed her hands over her lap. “The thing is, I’ve never believed in just one God. I’ve done a lot of research on the Greek Mythology and… I don’t know, I like the idea that different things, say, for example weather, have different forces affecting them. Now, I’m not saying that I believe in the stories of Greek mythology to the letter - there are a lot of crazy myths out there - but when you look at the bigger picture, there’s a lot that makes sense to me. I don’t know. People always think I’m weird when I say that.”

“I don’t think that’s weird,” Jason said. “I’m interested in the old cultures as well and I’ve always wanted to do my share so that they wouldn’t be forgotten. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher.”

“Oh! That sounds great,” Calypso said approvingly. “I’ve sometimes debated in my mind if I should become a teacher as well because a lot of history majors do but… so far I think I’m more interested in the research…”

Jason was going to say something more but Leo decided to interrupt. Even though he was happy Calypso got along with his friends, he had to admit to himself that he was a little bit jealous because his own beginning with her had been a lot bumpier than his friends’.

“Alright, nerds, that’s great and all but why don’t we start eating? The sauce supreme won’t be waiting!”

“Who are you calling nerds?” Calypso retorted back, attempting to throw her long braid over the shoulder before remembering that her hair was short now. “You must remember every single mathematical, physical and chemical formula by heart, and besides, I heard you humming the theme of Game of Thrones the other day.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Leo asked, surprised Calypso knew about his humming.

“I think it proves that you are such as much of a nerd as we are and probably even more,” Calypso teased.

“But I need those formulas to complete my job and that theme is epic… Eh, whatever. Let’s all be nerds then. Cheers!” he raised his glass of soda and took a huge sip. Jason and Piper looked at each other with amusement. The Leo they knew was very stubborn and might not have stopped the debate quite that easily. It must have been the Calypso effect.

For a while the group ate in silence, before Leo broke it again.

“Well, what do you guys think? How’s the papa Grace approved taco sauce tasting?”

“It’s good, Leo, just like the ones you made when I was living here,” Jason answered, maintaining his poker face. 

“I think this has a little less spunk, this time, though,” Piper said, but after seeing Leo’s expression she added quickly: “Which is a good thing! I don’t need fluids coming out of my nose no matter what you say.”

“Make fun of me all you want, I know you like it.” Leo pouted but soon he started grinning again. “Hey, what’s you guys’ opinion on olives?”

“I like them,” Piper said and to prove her point, she took more of Calypso’s Greek salad on her plate.

“They’re OK,” Jason chorused. “Why do you ask?”

“We had a little debate…” Leo said before he had time to regret it.

“A debate?” Piper asked curiously, turning her head from Leo to Calypso.

“About olives,” Leo replied. “I said I’d eat all my olives in the salad nicely if she tasted this chili right here.” He showed her friends the half of the chili that Calypso hadn’t tasted, not caring about their horrified expressions.

“Eww, dude, I’ve once tasted those and I had to drink like 2 liters of milk after that! Why would you make her do that?” Jason asked.

“Because she wanted to,” Leo said defensively.

“Is that true, Cal?” Piper turned to her.

“Well…” it was Calypso’s turn to get embarrassed. “It kinda is. I did say I was up for the challenge.”

“Okay,” Piper said with amusement. “Then what happened?”

“She only tasted a tiny bit and I claimed that wasn’t enough for me to eat the olives,” Leo answered.

“And I started chasing him and…” Calypso started but she realized that it might be better if she didn’t continue that sentence. After all, she herself wasn’t sure what exactly had happened in that moment.  
“And?” Piper wanted to know.

“That’s when you guys arrived.” Leo covered for Calypso.

Piper had a feeling that there was still a bit more to the story but she knew where to put the limit so she just ended up chuckling a bit and saying: “Oh, that chasing part explains why you seemed a little out of breath when we arrived.”

Leo and Calypso looked at each other and nodded in unison.

“That sounds like something we would have wanted to witness,” Piper said, trying to stop herself from laughing out loud.

“Some of us play tag, some of us play Pokémon,” Leo decided to pay back. “We can have some fun too.”

“They play Pokémon?” Calypso looked at Leo with a funny expression. “You know what, Valdez? I used to be pretty good at it back in the day when I played it with my… um, when I played it as a kid. Maybe we should have a battle with them one day.”

Leo did notice the hesitation in Calypso’s voice when she mentioned she had played it as a kid, but decided to ask about it later. He grinned at her in response.

“Now we’re talking, Sunshine! Jason, how about you bring your Switch here next weekend and we’ll have a battle then! We can also play Mario Kart for the good ol’ nostalgia’s sake.”

“It’s a deal!” Jason agreed and Leo and he shook hands to seal the promise.

“We’re gonna have to have a strategy meeting before that,” Leo turned to Calypso again. “These two have played more so they have the advantage.”

“Oh yes, for sure,” Calypso agreed. “I didn’t know you had a Switch, though. Haven’t seen you use it.”

“I do, though. One customer broke theirs and I told them I couldn’t fix it…”

“Leonidas!” Calypso said disapprovingly.

“Relax, I’m just kidding. Gotta try to keep up my bad boy supreme image. In reality I bought it because I wanted to give Georgie a reason to come visit me more often, but between my studies and work I haven’t really had a chance to use it much.”

“You are not a bad boy supreme, you are a doting brother. I’m sure Georgie would like to spend time with you either way, though.” Calypso said as much to her as Leo’s surprise.

“Guys, as much fun as this is to listen to, your food is getting cold,” Piper pointed out as she stuffed more of her tofu tacos (Leo had made both meat and vegan options) into her mouth. The two quickly turned their attention back to their dinner while Jason and Piper casted knowing looks at each other. Leo may not have admitted it out loud but there definitely was something going on between the two. It was the way they casted shy looks at each other when they thought the other one wasn’t looking, how their faces softened when the other one said something they liked, and how they pretended to bicker but neither really wasn’t too serious with their words. Maybe they weren’t quite sure themselves what to think but Piper had a strong feeling eventually they would figure it out.

The group continued a relaxed conversation as they ate about all things possible; university, weird customers Leo ran into in his work, food, games, how Piper and Jason had met Leo, and so on. After the guests thanked for the food and said their goodbyes, Leo asked Calypso:

“So, those were my friends. What do ya think?”   
“I think they are great! I admit I was quite nervous at first but… they seem to be easy to hang out with.”

“Good! Um, listen,” Leo said, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. “I still have one project to finish today and I have early classes tomorrow, ugh… But I had a good time today. So thanks.”

“I had a good time too.” Calypso smiled. “Despite that chili!” she decided to remind him. 

“Oh, right, sorry about that.” Leo ruffled his hair. “I won’t make you do that again. Maybe.”

“You’d better not,” Calypso said but not in a mean spirited way. “Anyway, I have some homework to do as well, so… Good night, Leo.” She smiled at him before withdrawing into her room.

“Good night, Cal.” He waved at her, noticing that one part of his brain was already looking forward to talking to her again later.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo's fear raises its head at the worst possible moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, finally some (slight) drama after I've drowned all of you in fluff in the previous chapters :P This is only the beginning of things to come, but don't worry, I'm not capable of Rick Riordan level (specifically, TBM level) angst. So, I guess time will tell what really will happen with this fic! Also, it was pretty exciting for me to finally get to explore Leo's studying life a bit more.
> 
> I also want to take this opportunity to advertise a future fic of mine that I /hope/ to finish by the end of this week. I am usually not able to stick to a deadline so I won't make any promises about the posting date but the past week I've been working on a post ToN Caleo one-shot which is already over 4000 words long (long for /my/ one-shot) and at this point mainly needs some heavy editing to be posted. So stay tuned for that too if you like this ship!
> 
> Big big thanks to Cris for helping me a whole lot with this chapter! I'm gonna be honest, sciences are not my area of expertise (I have only studied languages at the university level) so what you see in this fic may not be 100% accurate but I tried my best with the help of my wonderful chemistry student friend :3
> 
> Rambling finally over. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it was an interesting one to write! And remember that comments are the only reward I get so they would be much, much appreciated and also keep me motivated!

“Mister Valdez? Are you listening?”

Leo snapped out of his daze. He was at his engineering math class and for the past 15 minutes the professor had been explaining to the group a problem that had taken Leo about 2-3 minutes to solve. Usually he did something else while listening to his professors; finish more calculations (sometimes even ones they weren’t assigned to do), doodle blueprints and ideas for future inventions into his notebook, write down a new joke he had come up with, or text Jason that he was bored. Weirdly enough, doing all that other stuff helped him to focus on what was going on in the lecture.

However, this time his mind was elsewhere; it kept showing him images of a girl with shoulder length reddish brown hair, dark brown eyes that seemed a bit harsh at first but softened when she laughed at his joke, a couple of freckles on her light skin… He could also hear her laughter and smell the cinnamon scent that probably came from the shampoo she used in his head. The previous evening had gone so well but he had no idea what to make of it; even if he did like Calypso (which he wasn’t quite ready to admit yet), could anything ever happen? They were flatmates. Things would sure get complicated if they got together and then broke up and would barely stand each other’s company… Besides, who was to say she’d ever like him? Sure, sometimes she seemed amused by his jokes but what other reasons did he give for her to like him? Not much, he felt.

Leo started to get frustrated because he couldn’t get those thoughts out of his head and he might have started to growl to himself if the professor hadn’t called him at that exact moment.  
“Yes?” Leo answered unsurely, not having heard what the professor had asked.

“Good. Then you can tell me what the solution to this problem is.” The professor pointed at the long and complicated looking problem on the whiteboard.

Leo sighed of relief on the inside. They were still talking about the same problem that he had solved over 10 minutes ago. He could do this.

“X is 3,65, Y is 5,51 and Z is 7,24,” he said, sounding almost bored.

“That is correct,” the professor said, badly hiding his surprise. He had thought this kid who seemed to be living in his dream world would be utterly confused by his question. He turned his attention back to the rest of the class and continued: “Of course, the easiest way to solve this equation is to divide X with… Yes, Mister Valdez?”

“Actually, I disagree,” Leo said, now completely awake. “Why would you divide it when you can…”

“Which one of us is the professor here, Mister Valdez?” the professor cut him off. “You may think you know how to do this but there are plenty of students here who aren’t quite as advanced and that’s why it’s better to show them one way to do it rather than to confuse them by....”

“Yeah, right, my bad,” Leo said sarcastically. “If these students are so simple minded, then why don’t you give them more practical problems to solve? You know, things we might actually need in the work life instead of… that,” he pointed at the whiteboard.

A couple of people were brave enough to nod and hum in agreement to Leo’s comments but there were also a few that started laughing.

“Alright, that’s it, Mister Valdez. Leave my class.”

Leo obeyed gladly (that class was such a waste of time anyway). He packed his things and headed out of the room, grinning widely as he left to let the professor know he hadn’t won that battle. It was almost lunch time so he decided to already go to the cafeteria to wait for Jason whose class wasn’t too far either.

About 15 minutes later Jason showed up, and to Leo's surprise he also had company. Percy Jackson did occasionally join them for a game night or a sparring session but Leo almost exclusively saw him outside the university. From what he knew Percy was currently focusing on his swimming career and wasn’t studying anything. Now he had however joined Jason for lunch and that made Leo wonder if there was some specific reason for that.

“Hey, man,” Jason greeted. “You’re early today. Are they having enchiladas or something?”

“Nah,” Leo shook his head. “I may have gotten kicked out of the class.”

“What did you do this time?” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Nothing, really!” Leo exclaimed. Jason kept looking at him suspiciously, though, so he had to add eventually: “Fine, I may have disagreed with the professor about some of his methods, but really, that’s all. Didn’t blow up the lab or anything like that.”

“One time when I was in the high school I told the teacher his pants were unzipped and I wasn’t allowed to participate in his classes for a whole week after that. Didn’t miss much, though, he sucked as a teacher,” Percy joined the conversation.

“That’s exactly what I thought about this guy!” Leo said and gave Percy a high five. “Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be in the pool at this hour.”

“Just checking the places,” Percy shrugged. Leo raised his eyebrow questioningly. “Fine, Annabeth thinks that at some point I should start thinking about my career after swimming so Jason said he could show me around today so I’d get an idea what it’s like here. Oh and, he promised me a free lunch.”

“Makes sense,” Leo said while already looking at the menu eagerly. “I’d come here for a free lunch too.”

“You pay for this one, though,” Percy pointed out.

“Back to the actual topic ,” Jason said, looking at Leo a bit worriedly. “You didn’t get into big trouble with that professor, did you?”

“I think he’ll go back to ignoring me again in the next class. “ Leo replied. “So no need to worry.”

“Good. It’s just that, after that last lab incident…” Jason started, referring to an incident that had happened in the previous semester, but Leo stopped him.

“I said no need to worry,” Leo said a bit louder. “I’ve got things sorted, OK? Just… let’s go to get that damn lunch now. Chili con carne, anyone?”

In reality, Leo knew that if he skipped one more lab class, the professors wouldn’t be that understanding. The saddest part about it was that he actually enjoyed the lab classes way more than the boring theory classes because there you got to try things out with your own hands, but… there was one big but. He couldn’t be there when…

“Leo?” he heard Jason’s voice somewhere nearby

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“You were just totally zoned out, I was talking to you like a full minute and I don’t think you heard anything I said,” Jason pointed out.

“Oh, sorry. Lots going on in my mind. So, what did you say?” Leo asked.

“I was asking about when we should meet up on Saturday? I have soccer practice in the morning and Piper has a meeting with her theater group at 1 pm but we’re free after that.”

“I have to ask Cal but I think I can organize my work so I’d be free any time after 4 pm.”

“Alright, sounds fine to me,” Jason said, but Leo could sense that he was still wondering what had been bothering him that much.

“So who’s this Cal person?” Percy asked when the boys made it to the buffet tables.

“My new flatmate,” Leo said simply, currently more interested in filling his plate than elaborating on his living situation.

“OK. I was just wondering because Annabeth mentioned that she’d been at your place, and apparently she’d helped to give this flatmate of yours a makeover.”

“Oh, yeah!” Leo said, remembering that meeting quite vividly. “From what I’ve heard they’ve been hanging out quite a lot lately. That’s good because… well, she’s new here.” Leo was going to say that she doesn’t seem to have a lot of people in her life, but decided that he didn’t want to reveal too much to someone who had never even met her.

“Where is she from then?”

“I think she moved here from New York,” Leo said. “And she’s around your age. Who knows, you might even know her.”

“New York is a pretty big place,” Percy pointed out. “I guess Cal is a nickname? What’s her full name?”

Leo was going to answer when he spotted the chemistry lab professor in the crowd and he quickly hid behind Jason.

“Don’t let him see me,” Leo said hastily. “He’s gonna…”

Leo didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence when he heard the said professor say loudly: “Mister Valdez!”

Leo peeked from behind his friend.

“Hola, professor,” he said awkwardly. “Didn’t see you there.”

“Yes you did, you were just trying to hide from me. I wanted to remind you that today is the test day which is 60% of the mark. And that means that…”

“If I skip that test, I will fail the class,” Leo added, looking down at his feet. He didn’t remain like that long, though. “I’ll be there, professor.” He put up a brave face and saluted him as the professor just ‘hmmph’ed and turned away from him.

“I thought you said you have everything in order.” Jason raised his eyebrow once the boys had paid for their lunches and started to look for a table. “That didn’t seem like it.”

“Take care of your own business, Sparky,” Leo grunted and pointed at one empty table not far from them. “Let’s go there.”

“I’m serious, Leo,” Jason continued once they got seated. “Something is bothering you. We are your friends and we do care. You can trust us on this.”

Leo let Jason’s words sink in. Friends. Care. Trust. Since his mother died, he had always been the oddball, the outsider until he got a family who actually cared about him, Jo, Emmie and Georgie, but he still got a bit overwhelmed every time he realized that he really mattered to someone.

“Thanks, man.” Leo said finally. “I’ll… keep that in my mind. Promise.”

“Good.” Jason smiled at him encouragingly. “You can talk to us whenever you feel like it.”

After that the discussion moved to other things. Percy was hopeful that he was fit enough for a new record in his next competition and he didn’t forget to praise her little sister as well. Jason mentioned having seen his father at the campus but he had barely acknowledged his presence. Leo threw a few sarcastic comments here and there to let the others know he was listening. However, he had lost his appetite after hearing about the test. He had barely tasted his lunch and was now moving the rice back and forth on his plate as it got cooler. If the others noticed that, they didn’t say anything, probably thinking that it was better to let Leo open up on his own accord.

The lunch time flew by too fast for Leo’s liking. After separating from his friends he started heading towards the lab where most of the other students were already getting prepared. Taking a deep breath, he stepped in, hoping for the best. 

The lab class started with a brief written test that made sure the students were ready for the practice part. This time would be particularly important, though, because it was testing them about pretty much everything they had learned so far in that class, and would be graded accordingly.

The written test caused no problem to Leo. He’d be able to name the lab tools by heart even in his sleep and the calculations weren’t much harder to him. However, he was already dreading the actual practice part for a very specific reason…

In the practice Leo would have to mix a few compounds together to get a chemical reaction. That was the simple part. But unfortunately for him, these said compounds would have to be heated in order for them to react. And of course you’d need a flame to do that. Now that was the hard part for Leo. He hated the gas burners and it had become a habit for him to skip a lab class when he knew they would be used. Unfortunately for him, that was fairly often because apparently the university’s heating plates were used by some other group at the same time, and that was also why he was about to fail this class. But if he could handle using the burner just this once, maybe he’d be fine… He knew he couldn’t afford to fail it because if he did, it might be a sign that he wouldn’t be able to do the job he was so excited about, and that would be a huge slap in his face. Maybe even bigger than he was ready to admit.

He measured the compounds and was ready to heat them when he noticed that a fellow student nearby had accidentally mistaken two of the compounds with each other, ruining the mixture. That gave him an idea.

“Pssst. I can mix a new one for you if you heat this for me.”

“What?” The other student looked at him with confusion. “Why would I do that?”

“I just told you. I can fix that for you.”

“You just want to flex with your skills, that’s all,” the guy said, knowing Leo’s reputation as the genius who however refused to join lab classes. Probably because he felt he was too good for them.  
“May I remind you that this is a solo practice!” the professor yelled from the front of the class. “No talking allowed.”

“Yes, professor,” Leo said quietly, but rolled his eyes at him when he turned his back. He read the instructions one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything and when he was double convinced that he was in the part that he had dreaded, he breathed sharply and picked up his gas burner and some matches. He felt his heart starting to race and his hands starting to shake as he took one match from the box and tried to light it.

He tried once. Twice. Took a deep breath and tried once more. At this point his hands were shaking so furiously that the match fell from his hand. Realizing that he still couldn’t do it, he made a frustrated groan, dropped the match box on the table and started shakily collecting his things.

“Mister Valdez? Did you finish your task?” The professor raised his gaze from his desk and focused on him. A few others turned to Leo’s direction as well.

“No, sir.”

“And why not?”

“I. can’t.” Leo said with a voice so deep and raw that you rarely got to hear it from him. He left his unfinished product on the professor’s desk. Then he threw his bag over his shoulder and doors banging left the class.

He didn’t make it far when he felt his knees going weak and he had to sit down on the closest chair, burying his face in his hands.

…

“Thanks so much for showing me that place! It feels so good to see some nature even this close to the city,” Calypso exclaimed happily to Annabeth as they were walking towards the dorms. Calypso loved nature and she didn’t really feel at home in the concrete jungle, hoping that one day she could afford to buy a house from the countryside. She had once mentioned that to Annabeth who also enjoyed adventuring in the less crowded areas and had promised to take Calypso to one of her favorite parks nearby. They both had had free time from their classes that afternoon so they had decided to take the advantage of that and go to explore a bit.

The park had been pretty, having a small river running through it and little trails circling the trees. Calypso, who had grown near the sea missed seeing bodies of water so even the river had made her feel a little less homesick. The girls had been there for a few hours, taking pictures and having a small picnic while talking about anything and everything that had come to their minds.

Now, unfortunately, it was time to return back to real life and the assignments that were waiting for them at home.

“No problem,” Annabeth replied to Calypso’s comment. “Honestly, I think this break was much needed. I do love architecture and history and all that but sometimes my ADHD kicks in and I just need to get out of the house.”

“Yeah, it helps to focus again afterwards,” Calypso agreed. “Hey, do you have anything special to do this weekend? Leo, I, Piper and Jason are supposed to have a video game night on Saturday and I thought I’d ask if you want to join. You can ask your boyfriend too if you want, of course! I’m sure Leo wouldn’t mind.”

“What time would it be?” Annabeth asked.

“I haven’t asked Leo yet but he does work on Saturdays so probably not very early. Sometime in the evening. I can inform you when I know more,” Calypso promised.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in my mind. My boyfriend has a swimming practice twice a day so he may not be able to join us but I might!”

“Great!”

The girls had reached the area where Calypso lived so they turned to their own directions. 

“I’ll contact you!” Calypso said before Annabeth was too far to hear. She waved at her in response.

Calypso was still smiling when she entered her flat, but the smile soon melted from her face when she saw Leo hunched on the couch, looking utterly lost. Calypso approached him cautiously, asking: “What happened?”

Leo patted on the seat next to him, gesturing to her to join him on the couch. She did, but when he didn’t say anything for a while, though, Calypso decided to be bold and wrap her arm around his shoulder. Leo looked at her with dark eyes, still appreciating the gesture.

“I may have to start making new career plans.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Calypso talk about Leo's fear a bit (and get dorky).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Here's finally a new chapter. I know it's a short one, kind of 'fillery', but that's because I am extremely lazy at editing. Originally this whole chapter was supposed to be 4000+ words long but then I decided 'nope, not gonna edit all that at once', so I cut it in two parts. That's also the reason why this chapter ends a bit abruptly. But don't worry because you'll see the rest of the silliness in a week and I promise there will be a lot of Caleo goodness in it (before some drama goes down, dun dun duu).
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!! And I really, really, really do love all the comments I get!

You… what?” Calypso asked, genuinely surprised after hearing that Leo was considering quitting his studies. “I thought mechanical engineering was your dream career? And you’ve been doing well at the university?”

Leo turned to her. Calypso didn’t remember seeing him this upset, not even when he had told her how he had ended up living with his adoptive parents.

“For the most part, I guess I have,” he sighed. “Okay, I’m not the best at writing essays and I’m a slow reader because of my dyslexia and I get distracted easily, but I don’t have trouble remembering formulas or solving some mathematical problem. The problem is I’ve been skipping lab classes because I can’t…” His gaze flicked towards the candle in a glass holder on the sofa table that Calypso had burned earlier.

“Because you don’t want to be in contact with fire.” Calypso understood without Leo finishing the sentence.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I really tried this time but I ended up panicking. I ran away when I was supposed to use the gas burner.”

“I’m sorry,” Calypso said, genuine sympathy in her voice. She squeezed his shoulder briefly.

“Nothing I can do about it anymore. Tomorrow I’ll probably get a phone call saying they don’t want to see me anymore.” Leo couldn’t look at Calypso, instead taking some random machine parts from his toolbelt and starting to twist them in his hands to try to calm his nerves.

“Don’t you think that’s overthinking it a bit?” Calypso asked. “Surely there must be something you can do.”

“Not unless I can show that I am capable of doing lab work. And soon we’ll start doing welding and all that stuff. No way I can do it in my current state.” Leo sighed. 

“But there are ways to fight the fear, remember,” Calypso tried to encourage him.

“What do you know about that, anyway?” Leo snapped suddenly. “You are not afraid of fire.”

“I know more than you realize,” Calypso said, her voice getting cooler and her eyes gleaming angrily for a moment. “I may not be afraid of fire but I had to fight my fear of driving a car. It took a few months but eventually I did it.”

“Which goes to prove that you’re a way better person than I am,” Leo shot back.

“Oh, stop it with your inferiority complex!” Calypso raised her voice. Leo seemed surprised by her outburst but he didn’t protest. “Listen,” she said then, this time quieter. “I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s a long process and sometimes painful too. But based on what I know about you, you don’t seem like someone who gives up that easily.”

Something about Calypso’s words put Leo back on the right track. He was quiet for a while as he took them in, clenching his fists a couple of times.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ve gone through too damn much to give up now. Do you think that the thing we started – you know, with the candles – would help in the long run?”

Calypso realized something about Leo’s incident at the university. “Today in the class when others were using their gas burners… did you pay attention to them?”

“No, not much,” Leo admitted, surprising himself. “Was too busy panicking about my own.”

Calypso seemed encouraged by that piece of information. “But that’s good news; it means that distraction does work.”

“So you’re saying it’s worth trying again?” Leo asked.

“Yes.” Calypso nodded. “But it alone might not work. I should remind you I’m not a professional but based on my own experiences you also have to come to terms with the reasons behind the fear. Which means, talking about it – with family, friends, a professional, even me if you want to - would be helpful. When you’re ready, of course.”

“I can’t really afford to spend any more time waiting,” Leo said. “I’m already this close to failing everything.” He put his thumb and index finger so close to each other they almost touched.

“Remember that you shouldn’t push it, though. That won’t help you erase the negative association.”

“Right,” Leo nodded, and Calypso had to admit he seemed surprisingly attentive in that moment, even if he was still fiddling with his toys. Usually he gave her the impression that his mind was in several places at the same time.

“Based on your story you’ve had enough contact with fire for one day, so maybe we’ll continue with that another time” Calypso decided, “But I have one question: how long has this been happening?”

“Since I was a kid. Probably eight” Leo answered. Calypso counted 1+1=2. Like she had suspected, the fear must have gotten its start when that fire had happened. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more that had happened that day, something that Leo wasn’t telling.

“I see,” Calypso said. “That’s… a long time to be dealing with that fear.” She bumped her knee lightly against his as a sign of affection.

Leo seemed surprised by Calypso’s reaction. She wondered if he wasn’t used to people expressing sympathy towards him.

“Yeah,” he said, focusing on his fingers that had started to tap a certain rhythm against his legs. 

“Listen,” Calypso said surprisingly softly. “I believe you can do it. In your language, you can kick the fear’s ass. Just… be nice to yourself.”

Calypso’s comment made Leo smile slightly.

“I can’t believe you just said the word ‘ass’ because of me,” he teased, making Calypso puff her cheeks. 

“You’re such a kid sometimes, Valdez. And maybe I am not quite as sweet mouthed as you think I am.”

“You so are.” Leo nudged her leg. Calypso stuck her tongue out at him, making him chuckle. “Who’s the kid now?”

“Speaking of kids,” Calypso said, “ I was kind of thinking that since a mental break would probably do good to you, we could do some Pokémon team preparations for the game night? Saturday is soon.”

“Oh, yeah!” Leo said, sounding a lot more confident than a few minutes earlier. “We’re gonna build the most badass team ever! Lightning Boy and Beauty Queen won’t know what hit them.”

Calypso was happy that at least on the surface Leo seemed to be recovering fast. “If you say so,” she smiled.

…

A little bit later the flatmates were scrolling through Bulbapedia, an online Pokémon encyclopedia, as they were trying to choose which Pokémon would be the most suitable for their team. Turned out their opinions differed quite a lot from each other. Calypso liked grass, psychic and fairy types while Leo seemed to be drawn to steel, and perhaps ironically, to some fire Pokémon.

“Everyone knows Charizard is better than Venusaur! It even has two mega evolutions! Venusaur can’t do a lot of damage in one hit.”

“Yes, but look at its defense stats. It can tank a lot of hits Charizard can’t,” Calypso argued.

“Fine, why don’t we have both on our team then and see which one does better,” Leo suggested and to that Calypso agreed.

The rest of the choosing went without bigger hiccups as the two decided to give each other two more picks. Leo was already feeling a lot better when Calypso told him that the dishes don’t do themselves and they ended up doing them together so they could get back to catching and training their Pokémon faster. Calypso was amused to see how seriously Leo, who usually was all about jokes, took that task. He seemed particularly into the damage calculator that told him how many hits his Pokémon would need to take down Jason and Piper’s. When she pointed that out, he said:

“Uncle Leo always has a plan, Sunshine. I won’t be doing things the conventional way.”

“Of course you won’t,” Calypso snorted, wondering if the plan would end up working.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Game night at Leo and Calypso's flat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay with this chapter! I was definitely going to post this chapter on time but a lot of distractions happened this week, including a visit from my 1-year-old niece, but so I didn't get the editing done when I would have liked to. But better late than never! This chapter was both fun but also challenging to write, because I wasn't sure how much game description I can have without making it boring. I myself am a big Pokémon fan (among other things) so adding that was very self-indulgent of me, but I hope that even those of my readers who aren't that familiar with Pokémon will be able to enjoy this chapter. I tried my best to explain some of the most important terms in the author's note below this chapter.
> 
> Now, please enjoy and let me know what you think! I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately so comments would really cheer me up! (Ps. since it's already Sunday, I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to be able to update next Thursday but I'll try)

Saturday came and Leo still hadn’t heard anything from his professors, which he took as a bad sign. Maybe they were still considering if such a problem student would ever be able to go through the tough education. He hadn’t even talked to Jo and Emmie after the incident, claiming that he was currently busy but he’d call back when he had time. He was still determined to try to get over his fear because his flatmate believed in him and thought that he could do it. And if not for anything else, Jo and Emmie hadn’t adopted him just so he would waste the opportunity. Calypso and he had agreed to continue the training the upcoming week, but now, they had something different in their minds: the game night.

Jason and Piper arrived first. They brought their Switch, some games and snacks with them and seemed about as confident about winning their battles as Leo was. Annabeth had told the group she would be arriving a bit late as she had promised to tutor a pupil that afternoon but that arrangement suited everyone well since she wouldn’t be able to participate in the Pokémon tournament anyway.

The group decided to have three battles and the team winning two of them would win the whole competition. Unfortunately for Team Flatmates, Jason and Piper won the first battle quite clearly, causing Calypso to throw annoyed glances at Leo.

“Mister Pokémon Master, I thought you had a plan,” she growled at him while their opponents were highfiving each other. 

Leo leaned closer to her, attempting his sneakiest expression: “Just trying to make them feel comfortable, Sunshine. And when they think they got it…”

“You’re either an evil genius or simply an idiot.” Calypso shook her head.

“Hey, what are you two whispering there?” Piper asked loudly from her seat. “One would think that you’re plotting something… Maybe even cheating.”

“Just a mandatory team meeting, Pipes. We don’t cheat. I feel offended that you’d even consider that.” Leo put his hand over his heart to feign innocence.

“Yeah, right,” Piper rolled her eyes. “We almost believe that.”

The second battle was much more even than the first one. In the end both teams were down to one Pokémon, but Leo’s Charizard was faster than Jason’s Magnezone and it managed to finish it off with one final Flamethrower.

“See, Sunshine, if it hadn’t been for my Charizard…”

“Oh my gods, Leo. You just happened to get lucky that Tyranitar’s Rock Throw missed it earlier. Otherwise you’d been done for.”

“Well, they say that even luck has to be deserved,” Leo smirked.

“So that’s what your strategy is?” Jason asked. “Luck?”

“Do I hear complaints? You guys just don’t respect the genius in his element.” Leo protested.

“Well, I guess the final battle will decide who really is a genius and who’s not,” Piper noted and that was the group’s cue to stop trash talking and continue playing.

...

Jason and Piper’s team got a strong start in the last battle. They took down two of Leo and Calypso’s Pokémon before they got any major damage done. But after that Leo showed that sometimes he did have luck on his side; he took a small risk by making Luxray use Thunder against Jason’s flying type and it was worth it. The attack didn’t miss this time and Braviary went down in one hit. After that Leo took another risk by telling Calypso to use a water type Slowbro against Piper’s grass type Lurantis. He had planned ahead though by using a move that made Slowbro faster than Lurantis, and his Pokémon also knew a fire type move Flamethrower, which caused Lurantis to go down after two hits. 

From then on the battle progressed more evenly. Charizard and Venusaur were Leo and Calypso’s last Pokémon to stand against Piper and Jason’s Manectric and Umbreon. Calypso suggested they’d try to use Venusaur against Manectric but Leo claimed his Charizard might be able to beat it with one hit. He miscalculated, though. Manectric was still faster and its Discharge was enough to take the Charizard down. Calypso looked at Leo with a ‘what did I say’ expression and took over. Her Venusaur, which was resistant to electric moves, managed to win Manectric, and Calypso couldn’t hide her smug smile when Jason and Piper switched to their last Pokémon.

In advance the last match up seemed pretty even, apart from the fact that Venusaur had already taken a bit of damage in the previous battle. Both Pokémon kept slowly chipping the other one’s energy and then healing up again for a good while until finally, Venusaur got a critical hit with its Giga Drain and made Umbreon faint.

“YES!” Calypso yelled probably louder than Leo had ever heard her yell in the short time he’d known her. Before he had time to react, he felt her arms wrap around him.

“Woah! Someone’s excited.” Leo mumbled against her hair.

“Sorry,” Calypso blushed. “I may have overreacted a bit. But we did it!”

“A critical hit, huh? Those need some luck, don’t you think?” Leo asked her smugly once Calypso had removed her arms from around him.

“Yeah, I guess…” she said, wondering where he was going with his comment.

“I’d advise you to check Venusaur’s held item.” Leo winked and Calypso clicked Venusaur’s data open.

“Dire Hit?” she asked in disbelief. “Did you predict this would happen and that’s why you gave him that? To boost the critical hit ratio?”

“Well, I told you the luck has to be earned sometimes.” Leo’s grin was about as wide as it could get. Calypso didn’t know if she should punch him or hug him again. Her hand remained still in the mid air for a while before she finally decided to put it down, in the small gap between his and her thigh.

“You could have told me that earlier, you frustrating, evil…” She started scolding him.

“Yes? Finish your sentence, please.” Leo challenged, leaning a bit closer to her.

“Not genius,” she said quietly, not able to look him in the eyes.

“Has anyone ever told you guys you’re adorable?” Piper asked all of a sudden and it was then that the flatmates remembered that Jason and Piper indeed were in the room too. They flinched for a moment and then jumped farther from each other.

“Hey, what are you implying?” Leo casted an annoyed look at his friend.

“Pretty sure Mister Genius knows what I’m implying,” Piper said back and caused Leo to groan loudly.

“No way. No. We’re not… I mean I wouldn’t… She wouldn’t…”

“No one understands you, Leo,” Jason stopped his stuttering.

Leo wasn’t about to admit his defeat quite that easily, but luckily he was stopped by the buzzer. Annabeth had finally arrived and Calypso rushed to open the door, trying to put her poker face back on.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late, the pupil had quite a lot of questions this time,” Annabeth explained, glancing at the clock on the wall that showed that the four others had been playing for almost an hour already.   
“And of course Percy had lost his swimming goggles again and we were searching for them for at least 15 minutes. I promise to kick his butt for that later tonight.”

Calypso was still too distracted by the earlier situation to pay attention to the name Annabeth had mentioned.

“No worries, you probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway. The boys were getting a bit enthusiastic about Pokémon,” she told Annabeth.

“Excuse me, who was literally just screaming and glomping people because she won?” Leo retorted back and Annabeth chuckled at his reaction a bit.

“Hmm, to me it sounds like I’ve missed a lot.” She smirked. “Moving on, though, what are you guys thinking of doing next?”

“We were planning to play Mario Kart,” Calypso gestured towards the console, as she went back to her seat.

“And this time we won’t be playing in pairs so it should be interesting to see how these two will be behaving,” Piper meddled in.

Both Leo and Calypso pretended they didn’t hear her, instead starting to trashtalk each other.

“Okay, Repair Boy, let’s see how far luck will get you in this game.”

“Sunshine, if you think I need luck in Mario Kart… you’re as wrong as my middle school teacher who claimed that my jokes were bad and threw me out of the class just because of that.”

Jason had to disagree with that statement, though. “For me you told that that joke was about the teacher himself and that it was kind of inappropriate. So your teacher was right.”

Leo turned to Calypso. “Why did we invite these two again?” He nodded towards Piper and Jason. “They’re ruining my stories.”

“I think they are just telling the truth,” Calypso chuckled.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see who laughs last when they win this contest.”

“Alright, children,” Annabeth stopped them. “This is fun to listen to but I think the only way to find out who really can play is to play.”

“Annabeth’s right, as usual,” Piper said too. “Let’s do it.”

The friends shared the remote controls and put the game on. Before they got to the character picking, though, Calypso confessed something.

“I have to admit that I haven’t played this game before. Well, I haven’t played most of the games before. Pokémon was easy for me to understand because it’s one of the few games I did play as a kid.”

“Wait… what?” Leo turned to her, his eyes wide. “You have only ever played that game as a kid and did that well?

“You created the team, I only picked what felt good in that moment.” Calypso waved it off. “Without that Dire Hit…”

“Looks like progress has been made between those two,” Annabeth whispered to Piper who snorted at her comment.

“One could say that,” she said with amusement.

“Alright, guys, let’s focus on the relevant things here. It’s time to pick your characters.” Jason ordered and the others had to listen to him. Leo picked Mario, Calypso Princess Daisy, Jason and Piper Toad and Toadette and Annabeth Yoshi (she claimed it reminded her of her boyfriend). Leo had to instruct Calypso briefly on the functions of the remote control for this specific game, but after that the group was ready.

It took Calypso a while to learn to use the remote control but Leo had to give it to her, she really gave it her all. In the first race she was the last, but she slowly started getting better until finally she was fourth, managing to win Piper while Leo, Jason and Annabeth were still better.

“At this rate you’ll win the guys before they notice it,” Annabeth complimented Calypso. “But don’t expect me to be as easy as they are.”

“How are you that good?” Calypso asked her, knowing she had meant what she had said.

“I guess I just do a lot of things that develop my hand-eye coordination; I draw, play some sports, and believe it or not, my mom also wanted to make sure I’d be good at knitting and weaving so she started teaching me at a young age. Now I haven’t seen her in a long while but I’m still trying to maintain the skill.” Annabeth shrugged.

“In that case, I’m going to continue my hobbies too. Imagine seeing Leo and Jason’s faces when we both win them,” Calypso said, causing the boys to protest.

“The next Cup will decide who wins, OK?” Jason tried to solve the situation after some bickering between the parties.

“Fine,” the girls agreed, but Leo’s face told that he was very ready to show Calypso who the teacher was.

By the last race of the Cup Annabeth was in a clear lead, Jason was second, leading Leo with 5 points, Leo third and somehow Calypso had sneaked to the fourth place 7 points from Leo. In the last round of the last race Leo was leading, others close behind him, when Jason managed to get a blue shell, shooting it at his friend’s car.

“Hey! That’s so unfair!” Leo yelped as he watched his car getting knocked over. Unfortunately for Annabeth, he was situated on the road in a way that she had to slow down a bit when she passed him, but Calypso and Jason had the space to drive on the full speed on the other side of the road. They were already close to the finish line and if the track had been any longer, the race would probably have ended differently, but Leo didn’t have enough time to bounce back after the collision. Jason ended up winning the last race, Calypso being the second, which meant she gained seven points more than Leo did. That, on the other hand, meant that they ended up with exactly the same amount of points in the Cup.

After Leo said a couple of quiet curse words in Spanish, he dared to look at Calypso from the corner of his eye. She was looking at him too and seemingly trying to figure out what she should tell him. He wasn’t able to stay mad after that.

“Guess we’ll be on the podium together,” he went first.

“Yeah,” Calypso nodded. “Hey, you’re not a half bad teacher.”

“Half bad?” A smile spread on Leo’s face. “Hey, guys, did you hear that? Coming from Calypso, that was a big compliment!”

“I can also take it back, if you want,” she said calmly but couldn’t stop herself from smiling as well.

“Good game, Cal,” both Annabeth and Piper told her, giving her high fives.

“Thank you! Next time, I’ll even try to challenge the champion.” Calypso nodded towards Annabeth.

“Good luck with that!” she responded. “I promise I won’t go easy on you.” 

“I wouldn’t want that,” Calypso said before turning her attention back to the screen again.

Silence fell into the room as the group watched the award ceremony. Annabeth’s Yoshi rose to the highest podium, Jason’s Toad followed and Leo and Calypso’s Mario and Princess Daisy shared the third one.

“We don’t look that bad together, huh?” Leo noted while drumming his fingers in the same rhythm as the background music. At first he didn’t realize there was anything weird in his words, but the others’ chuckling and Calypso’s pink cheeks woke him up.

“Hu-huh?” she asked, flustered.

“I mean… our characters! They look pretty neat!” He yelped and folded his arms. The others had to bite back their smiles but Piper decided to be kind and change the topic.

“So, we’ve played Pokémon and Mario Kart now… what next?”

Calypso seemed relieved by her question. “I forgot to mention I prepared some presents for the top three! I made some cupcakes and I thought the winner would get three, the second one two and the third one… Don’t worry, Piper, I think I should have one extra cupcake in the fridge.”

“You wouldn’t have had to, I could have eaten Jason’s extra,” Piper said but accepted the cupcake nevertheless when Calypso started sharing them.

Leo wasn’t very willing to give up on his cupcake that he was supposed to share with Calypso.

“So you had an extra cupcake but we still have to share?”

“You already ate one last night! And I don’t have more of them with the frosting right now, the rest are in the freezer.” Calypso protested.

“Such a cold hearted woman,” Leo muttered and snatched the last cupcake from the plate. Calypso didn’t have time to stop him before he had already split the bottom part in half with a knife that had been resting next to the plate. Then he put the other half on the top of the cake and took a huge bite of it.

“Leonidas, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed and tried to reach the cupcake in his hand.

“Eating my share, of course!” he said as he stuffed more of the cake into his mouth.

Calypso was prepared for Leo to run away from her like he had the other day after the chili incident but to her surprise he stayed in one spot. Leo started laughing at her baffled expression.

“Open your mouth,” he ordered her, putting the remains of the cupcake near her face.

“What?” Calypso asked, not expecting that reaction.

“What what, do you think I won’t give you your share of the cupcake? You deserved it!” he said, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“But you bit that already!” Calypso tried to protest. 

“Are you 8? I can always cut this in half with this knife if that’s what you want.”

“Fine,” she finally said, waiting for Leo to finish the cutting before letting him feed her. They didn’t notice that Piper was whispering something to Annabeth and Jason. The group seemed to agree about something, but their whispering was interrupted when there was a knock on the front door.

“That’s probably just Percy, he must have gotten out of his practice by now.” Annabeth said and went to open the door.

“Hi, I tried to call you but I guess you didn’t hear your phone or something,” a male voice could soon be heard in the hallway. “Someone let me in downstairs while I was… you?”

Everyone was now able to see the newcomer who stopped in his tracks when he recognized Calypso. She had frosting all over her face, Leo’s hand on her shoulder when she turned to look at him.  
“Percy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Pokémon vocabulary to make reading that part easier:
> 
> Pokémon mentioned on Leo and Calypso's team (+typings) (both teams have 6 Pokémon)  
> Venusaur (grass/poison)  
> Charizard (fire/flying)  
> Slowbro (water/psychic)  
> Luxray (electric)
> 
> Pokémon mentioned on Piper and Jason's team  
> Umbreon (dark)  
> Manectric (electric)  
> Tyranitar (rock/dark)  
> Braviary (normal/flying)  
> Lurantis (grass)  
> Magnezone (electric/steel)
> 
> super effective move: causes 2x the amount of damage compared to a 'normal effective' move (there are also 4x effective moves, if a dual type pokemon's types are both weak to a certain type. An instance: Charizard's flying and fire types are both weak against rock type, meaning rock moves are 4x effective against it)  
> Not very effective move: deals only 0,5x of the damage compared to 'normal effective' moves
> 
> Some type match-ups used in this fic:  
> Fire=2x effective against steel (Charizard vs. Magnezone)  
> Rock=2x effective against fire /and/ flying (Tyranitar vs Charizard)  
> Electric=2x effective against flying (Luxray vs Braviary, Manectric vs Charizard)  
> Grass=2x effective against water (Lurantis vs Slowbro)  
> Fire=2x effective against grass (Slowbro's Flamethrower vs Lurantis)  
> Electric=0,5x effective against grass (Manectric vs Venusaur)
> 
> Rock Throw=damage dealing rock type move  
> Thunder=damage dealing electric type move  
> Flamethrower=damage dealing fire type move  
> Discharge=damage dealing electric type move  
> Giga Drain=damage dealing grass type move that also gives the user some HP (hit points) back
> 
> Critical hit: (rough explanation) doubles the damage dealt by a move.
> 
> Dire Hit: an item for a Pokémon to hold that makes critical hits more likely


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some truths come out... and some don't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I'd leave you hanging for too long? Now it's finally time to find out what happens when Calypso and Percy meet. I'm a bit worried some characters may sound a bit OOC here but writing conflict has never been my piece of cake so I was a bit out of my comfort zone here. But I tried! Without a further ado, I hope you guys enjoy!

“Hold on, what’s going on here?” Leo asked, finally letting go of Calypso and throwing the last piece of the cupcake in his mouth. “You two know each other?”

“Well…” Calypso started but couldn’t find the right words to explain the situation.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Percy admitted when it became obvious that she wouldn’t be able to answer. “We used to chat online.”

Leo’s eyebrows shot up. “Chat… online? As in…?” 

“On Tinder, yeah. But that was a long time ago.” Percy glanced at his girlfriend varily. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Calypso wasn’t happy about Percy’s choice of words. To her, it had been a rather big deal, because the internet had been the only way she had been able to stay in contact with the outside world and she did care about the bonds she formed there. And Percy had seemed different from most of the people she had met online. Had. Until she had discovered she was wrong, after all.

“If it wasn’t a big deal,” Annabeth frowned. “Then why do you look so nervous and why did Calypso just go bright red? I may not be quite as good at reading people as Piper is but usually that isn’t a good sign.”

“Annabeth…” Calypso answered instead of Percy. “You are my friend and I’m not going to lie to you. I did have a crush on him, but that was two years ago and we cut things off entirely when Percy told me he wanted to start dating someone else.”

“Wait… you were the girl he was seeing before me? I… how…?” Annabeth asked, her eyes wide as owl’s.

“You were still seeing Luke,” Percy said carefully. “I liked you, Annabeth, but in all honesty, I didn’t think you’d break up with him. So, I met Calypso online and she seemed nice, but…”

“But I was always just a second choice to you,” Calypso said a bit bitterly.

“Hey, I never meant any of it to happen! I didn’t want to hurt you,” Percy tried to defend himself.

“...But it just happened,” Calypso finished for him, her voice poisonous.

Annabeth ignored their arguing.

“I remember…” she addressed Percy, “before I told you about Luke and my break up, you ranted about this girl who was so pretty and sweet and lonely and you hoped to meet her because she was living in the same city. You never told me her name, though, or what happened to her. Eventually, I just kind of… forgot. And now I find out that girl is my friend. This is just so weird…”

“A small world, huh?” Percy tried to lighten the mood, failing at it.

“It’s not funny, Jackson.” Annabeth scowled at him. “So… did you guys ever meet face to face?”

“Just once,” Calypso hurried to answer. “And at the end of it? Percy told me that he only liked me as a friend.” Two years worth of in kept emotions decided to pop on the surface in that moment, and Calypso directed the frustration at Percy. “By the way, Percy, I appreciate your honesty but you really could have told me that before I arranged the whole thing. You knew the circumstances.”

Leo had listened to the whole conversation with his mouth open, his head going back and forth between the arguers, but now he felt he had completely fallen out of it, so he asked: “Woah, you guys! Calm down a bit! What circumstances?”

“It’s nothing,” Calypso said quickly.

“It’s not nothing!” Percy exclaimed but seeing Calypso’s warning glare, he quickly shut up.

Annabeth casted Percy a disbelieving look. “Wait, she talked about whatever was going on with her to you? We’ve been friends for several months now and she still hasn’t told me what happened at the mall that one time…”

“Annabeth, I couldn’t…” Calypso wanted to explain but she knew that whatever she’d say probably wouldn’t help the situation. 

“Calypso, friends don’t have secrets. I’ve been trying to be patient, but I’m getting tired of this. Just tell me one thing. Based on what you just told me, you would have been ready for a relationship with Percy. Do you still like him?”

Calypso wanted to say a very unhesitant no, that that raft had sailed away a long time ago, and she might be seeing a new one on the horizon... But she realized she couldn’t say that in front of Leo because she hadn’t fully admitted that to herself yet, much less to anyone else. Besides that, she was also feeling rather intimidated by the situation, so the words escaped her. “I… uh… no.”

“That sounded pretty hesitant,” Annabeth pointed out. She looked like she wanted to say more, but thankfully, Piper decided to intervene in that moment.

“Alright, guys. To me it sounds like some of you are overreacting. So, Cal and Percy used to chat online before Percy and Annabeth started dating. To which they had every right. Calypso had a crush on Percy, which I suppose isn’t that weird even though I myself am not seeing the charm.” She gave her own boyfriend a quick smile. “They met once face to face and on that date Percy told Calypso he liked someone else instead. Doesn’t sound like the smartest idea but I guess Percy preferred telling that way instead of over a message. Right, Percy?”

“R-right,” he stammered, probably worried about how the girls would react.

“Then Calypso mentioned something about ‘circumstances’ but sounds like it’s something very personal so it’s up to her if she wants to tell us more about that. For now I’d suggest that we’d leave that topic alone.”

“Thanks, Piper,” Calypso said gratefully. “This is probably not the best moment to talk about it.”

“Fair enough,” Piper said, looking at the others challengingly, then at her watch. “Maybe it’s time for us all to go home. It’s getting kind of late.”

Agreeing mumbling could be heard from the room. When Piper put her leader mode on, no one really dared to resist her. Calypso thought briefly that she’d be an excellent boss for some company one day.

Percy and Annabeth didn’t say much when they left, perhaps their silence speaking more volumes than words could have. As the door closed, Piper sighed.

“I’m sorry this went this way. I promise I had a good time…”

“Until I messed everything up.” Calypso said quietly.

“What?” Piper asked. “I wasn’t gonna say that!”

“Yes but it’s the truth. I complicate everything. I can’t believe the first person I made friends with here… was, um, somehow connected to my past.”

“She must feel just as weird as you do,” Piper reminded. “I think it might be good for you to take a time off and ask yourself if you should let something that happened several years ago affect your friendship. You didn’t do anything wrong; Annabeth just needs to cool down a bit to be able to accept that. And when she’s ready, explain to her what really happened.”

“My girlfriend, the boss lady,” Jason, who had followed the situation quietly, said acceptingly. “You handled this situation awesomely.”

“Pfft, Grace, you just say that because I sleep with you.” Piper chuckled.

“He is not wrong, though,” Calypso was quick to add. “I think you did exactly what needed to be done. And just gave me some good advice. So thank you, again.”

“No problem. And hey, if anything comes up… you can definitely contact me. Annabeth may have been my friend longer, but you’re my friend too.”

“Yeah, thanks, I will,” Calypso said, managing a small smile.

After that Jason and Piper said their goodbyes and left Leo and Calypso alone in their flat.

“That was… pretty intense,” Leo finally broke the silence when it was about to get awkward. For some reason, he seemed disappointed about something even though Calypso couldn’t decide what. That she had ruined the evening? Or could it be… that he was upset to find out that she used to have a crush on his friend? No, that couldn’t have been it, Calypso thought, because what reason had she ever given Leo to like her? When she thought about it, she had mainly been sarcastic and kind of cold in his company, probably not something most people cared about.

“Yeah…” Calypso didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to explain, to say that she really didn’t feel much of anything towards Percy anymore, but what would that help? She’d probably only make things even more awkward than they already were. Especially if she was wrong and Leo was disappointed for example because she might have caused friction between his friends. “Listen, I didn’t mean to…”

“Whatever,” Leo stopped her, sounding a bit sharper than what Calypso was used to hearing. “I guess it’s none of my business anyway.”

Calypso understood the implications in Leo’s comment. One of the reasons why he was mad was because she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. But she could not get him mixed in the life she was trying to escape from…

The whole situation made Calypso frustrated and she took it out in a way she later regretted: “Why are you acting like that? What happened with Percy has nothing to do with you!”

“Well, it becomes my issue too if it affects my friends! Besides, I… I care about you… because you’re my flatmate, of course! And if my friend hurt you…”

Calypso was totally taken aback by Leo’s answer. She hadn’t even considered that he might actually be worried about her. Her face softened as she replied: “What happened back then… it doesn’t matter anymore. He and I were never exclusive. So really, it was my fault in the first place thinking that we could have a future. Not with… everything happening anyway.”

“There, that’s the other problem,” Leo said in a low voice. “You never tell me… Calypso, even though I may seem like it sometimes, I’m not stupid. You’re not telling us something that’s obviously very important to you. And hearing that Percy knows… well, it does feel weird.”

“Leo, think about your worst memory,” Calypso said, her eyes looking even darker than usual. “And tell me if you’d be willing to tell it to me, right here, right now. If the answer is no… well, then you might understand what I feel.”

“I…” Leo started, but then hesitated, his expression turning dark. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I just want to…”

“Forget.” Calypso finished for him. “Guess you might understand, after all.”

“Yeah, maybe… I hope that we can be honest with each other, one day, though.”

“I hope so, too,” Calypso agreed.

“Listen, I’m gonna call it a night,” Leo finally broke the silence that had fallen into the room, combing his hair with his fingers. “Got lots to do tomorrow. So, see ya.”

“Night,” Calypso said after him. She was sad that the affection that had been there the other night as they had said good night to each other seemed almost non-existent right now. Maybe the bubble around them had broken when they voiced their issues out loud. But Calypso wasn’t someone who gave up that easily. She wouldn’t let the ghosts of the past stop her from living her life anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, guys, Annabeth may be a jealous type but she's also a reasonable, smart person so I'm sure she'll come around eventually. Also, I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed writing Piper in this ch. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think because that's the only reward I get!!
> 
> (Ps. when Cal and Percy were online dating they were both 19, just thought I should add that)


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo's life is hard (but maybe there's some hope left).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, time for a new chapter! I decided to make Friday my new posting day so I'm going to try to keep it that way at least for a time being (the holidays are coming so I can't promise there won't be any interruptions in posting in December but that's probably understandable). 
> 
> It's not time to resolve the previous drama quite yet but dw, that's coming! Meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this Leo centered chapter. 
> 
> Don't forget to let me know what you think! :)

“Maldita sea!” Leo yelled at himself as his wrench flew at the wall, thankfully not causing damage to it. Nothing he tried to fix or build that day seemed to go right. He hadn’t been able to figure out a pretty basic seeming issue in someone’s phone, one of his own inventions had broken and even solving a physics problem that would usually have managed to distract him only felt frustrating.

There was a lot going on in Leo’s head. Well, he’d argue that he always had a lot going on there due to his ADHD, but this time his usual methods to calm himself down didn’t seem to work. He would probably have to quit studying the only field he was truly interested in. He couldn’t do his work. His flatmate for whom he may or may not have started slowly developing some very not flatmate appropriate feelings had apparently had a thing for his friend, which not only complicated Leo’s situation with Calypso but also with Percy. And his mother’s death anniversary was coming, which was always a hard time for him. Leo imagined she’d probably be so disappointed if she saw him now. ‘My son, a failure in every aspect of life’. No, Leo’s real mother had been way too nice to actually say something like that out loud, but he just knew she’d at least think that. And Jo, Emmie and Georgina were counting on him too.

After throwing the wrench, Leo decided to take a break because his hands had started shaking too much to continue working. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against his worktable, closed his eyes and started tapping a rhythm that he had memorized years ago. His mother had taught him Morse code when he was a kid, and this particular phrase was one she had used a lot when he had needed calming down. Written down, the code looked like this:

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

I l o v e y o u 

He whispered it very quietly a couple of times before looking out from the window and saying aloud:

“Mom. I’m trying to be strong. I really am. But sometimes it just gets too fucking hard. Everything seemed to be fine. Really. My other family is great. I was studying something I actually cared about. My new flatmate… uh, she’s an interesting force of nature. But if she likes someone like Percy… I’d never have a chance. And all my career plans are about to run down to the sewers because I can’t use fire, in any way. Not because of what happened to you. Because of what I... I just feel lost.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed the corner of his eye dry quickly. Saying his thoughts aloud seemed to make him feel a little bit better, and he decided that maybe getting out of the flat and getting some exercise would help with the shakiness. To his relief Calypso wasn’t home either so he didn’t have to answer any awkward questions about why he looked like such a mess.  
Leo found himself jogging all the way to Waystation, which was several miles from his flat. As he reached the yard, he noticed Georgina with Festus, but even with her back to him he could sense something was wrong. Of course. There was always some way the day could get even worse.

“Hi, hermanita!” he started, trying to sound cheerful even though he didn’t think he was a very good actor. Georgie could probably see right through him. His suspicions were confirmed when Festus didn’t even run to greet him as he usually did. “What’s going on?”

“I tried to call you,” she said, hiding her worry badly. “Moms went to run some errands and something… something happened to him…”

“What do you mean? What exactly happened?” Leo insisted on knowing.

Georgina seemed to grow more and more upset each moment. “I… I gave him a bully stick… but I forgot to put it in a holder even though moms always say you should do that when you give him one because he always tries to swallow them so fast… And then he started feeling sick...”

To prove her point, Festus, who was laying on the ground, made a loud gagging sound. After that he tried to whine but even that didn’t sound like it usually did.

Leo’s ADHD kicked immediately in, in the form of him wanting to act fast.

“We’ll discuss this later, I need to borrow Jo’s car now that I can take him to the vet,” he exclaimed and ran inside the house to get the keys to the car from the spot Jo usually kept them. He picked them and Festus’ leash and ran back, telling Georgina to stay home to tell Jo and Emmie what happened when they’d return.

At least one thing went right that day: the emergency vet clinic was fairly quiet when Leo arrived there. Not long after that, the vet took Festus in. He had an intern with him; a young man who Leo suspected had his roots somewhere in East Asia. He had black, short hair, a bulky body and kind of child like face even though the intern was probably older than Leo. As the vet asked Leo some questions about what exactly had happened to Festus, the student wrote down some notes and occasionally added a short comment as well. When Leo was about to explain why exactly Festus had gotten issues with the bully stick, he heard the intern mutter something to himself.

“What was that?” Leo asked a bit more aggressively than he had planned, having already been stressed even before the issue with Festus had come up. He had to admit, though, that it had distracted him from the other issues.

“Nothing,” the intern quickly said, pretending to focus on his papers again.

Leo didn’t give up that easily. “I heard you, though. You were implying that I had somehow caused this.”

“Well, you did give him the bully stick, didn’t you?” the young man asked.

“I wasn’t even there when he got one!” Leo growled, starting to feel the frustrations from earlier that day flooding out of his system. “My… uh, little sister gave him one when our parents left to run some errands and he kept whining and wanted something to chew! It wasn’t her fault either, she’s a child and she didn’t know that could happen!”

“Mister Valdez, please calm down a bit,” the vet interrupted him, and Leo immediately shut up. “There’s no need to yell. Festus is going to be just fine; I’m going to give him some medicine and fluids to help with digesting the stick and we can watch how he’s doing overnight. And Frank, please don’t make assumptions like that about clients.”

“Yes, sir,” Frank said, to Leo’s surprise actually looking regretful. Then he turned to Leo. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Nah, I kinda lost my cool there too…” Leo said, the frustration leaving when he saw Frank’s face.

“Kinda,” the intern said, attempting to joke about the situation.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that;” Leo rubbed the back of his neck.

After that the vet asked Leo a couple of more questions and did some more examinations on Festus while Frank helped him.

“Other than this stick issue, he seems like a healthy dog,” the vet complimented after the check up. “His fur and teeth look good. I think you’ve been taking good care of him.”

“Well, to be honest he lives more with my parents than me because they have a lot more space…” Leo said, “But yeah, we all try our best. Even Georgina, my sister.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s a good thing you got him here that fast so he’ll get the best possible treatment,” The vet said.

After that he wrote some notes on the computer and then dismissed Leo who scratched Festus from behind his ear and promised to come back soon to get him. As he was putting his jean jacket on in the lobby, the intern, Frank, approached him.

“About what happened earlier, I really am sorry. It isn’t like me to attack clients; you can even ask my boss about that. I just…”

“Chill, man,” Leo said. “I’ve heard this story before. People assume things about me because I look like a problem teenager. Truth to be told? You’re not entirely wrong. But things have changed. And trust me, Festus is my best friend and I’d do anything for him. I’m sure Georgie has learned her lesson too now.”

“Good to hear that,” Frank said and extended his arm to Leo. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when you’re coming to get Festus.”

Leo nodded. “Yep, I have a feeling my whole family will want to join me. Anyway, I’m off now. Thanks for the help!”

“I’m glad we could help!” Frank told him before he started walking towards his car.

...

Jo and Emmie had already returned to Waystation when Leo got there.

“Is everything OK?” Emmie asked immediately. “We didn’t really get much out of Georgina… Just that something had happened to Festus and you took him to the vet.”

“Nah, it’s gonna be fine!” Leo reassured her. “He got some digestion issues because he gobbled a bully stick too fast but that’s being taken care of now. Georgie sure remembers to be more careful from now on, won’t ya, hermanita?” he addressed the young girl then.

“I will…” she promised, not even protesting about the nickname this time.

Once Leo had explained with more details what had happened at the vet and it became clear that Festus would be fine soon, the family moved to other matters. Unlike usually, Leo was happy with mostly listening to the others. The incident had reminded him that there were bigger matters than girl issues or his studies and he realized that those things didn’t feel quite as hard to overcome now as a few hours ago. Yes, he still needed to deal with them, and yes, his past would probably never stop entirely haunting him, but when he had people like this around him? It wouldn’t be impossible.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel gives Calypso some advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping things short and sweet this time. Time to bring Hazel back before we finally get to some important 'talks'! As usual, I hope you guys enjoy and please comment because that's the best motivator I can get!!

“Hey,” Hazel gently grabbed Calypso’s sleeve after an art class when they were about to go home. Calypso had been pretty quiet (quieter than usual) during the class and she had been worried that Hazel would notice that. As she turned to look at the speaker, Calypso felt she should have known she wouldn’t get rid of her that easily. 

“I’m going to meet my friend Frank in an hour but I don’t have time to go home before that, so I’m going to kill some time somewhere nearby. Would you like to join me?” Hazel asked.

Calypso admitted to herself that she had been dreaming about locking herself into her room and maybe screaming into her pillow just a bit because she had felt very frustrated ever since the ‘Percy incident’ had happened. In the history classes she and Annabeth no longer talked to each other if they could avoid it. One awkward time their professor had ordered them to do their group work together but instead of actually spending time discussing the topic (or other matters) Annabeth had told Calypso to make some notes at home while she’d make her own and send them to her then for her to combine. Calypso had wanted to protest and say the whole situation was ridiculous but she had already learned to know that Annabeth was very strong willed especially when she wanted to be and arguing about it would most likely have caused more harm than good.

Aside from that they hadn’t interacted much, but from Piper, Calypso had heard that she and Percy were having a bit of a rough phase. Calypso herself wasn’t doing much better with her flatmate who had recently been spending more time with his family and friends or working behind the shut doors. Sooner rather than later she knew she would have to deal with both Leo and Annabeth but it was easier said than done. Especially because in her old home the issues had been just brushed under a rug and never talked about again.

Thinking about all that, Calypso had almost forgotten what Hazel had asked in the first place, but when the younger girl cleared her voice to get her attention, she finally responded: “Oh, sure, why not? I don’t have any place where I should be right now…” She tried to convince herself that maybe this would be a good thing, to get something else to think about. “Where do you want to go?” She asked Hazel  
“There’s a nice coffee shop nearby!” Hazel replied, casting a slightly worried look at Calypso. She could sense the older girl didn’t have her brain fully present. “And they have student friendly prices. Can you believe I once saw a coffee shop where they sold a regular cup of regular coffee for over four dollars?

“Wow, that really is expensive,” Calypso agreed but had nothing else to contribute to that topic.

“Yeah…” Hazel simply nodded and the girls continued walking for a while in a silence.

“Um, listen…” Hazel eventually spoke. “I can’t help but notice that something’s on your mind… If you don’t want to come with me, that’s OK. I understand.”

Calypso felt embarrassed, not wanting her new friend to think that she didn’t care about her company.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry! I do want to join you. You’re right, though, things have been a bit weird in my life lately but I promise I’ll try to push that into the back of my mind for a bit. I think this will be good for me.”

“Alright,” Hazel accepted. “Just so you know, I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my life… so if you do want to talk about it at any point, feel free.”

“Okay, I will.” Calypso promised.

The coffee shop they went into was small but cozy, lots of students either hanging out with their friends or perhaps doing some homework after classes. Hazel and Calypso did still manage to find free seats from a more quiet corner and once they had made their orders (fruit tea for Calypso, latte for Hazel), they discussed the art classes for a bit. Hazel hoped to get more experience with portraits soon while Calypso admitted that she was more interested in painting landscapes. The younger girl also revealed that she was planning to draw something for Frank’s birthday, which made Calypso wonder again what the relationship between those two really was like.

“You and Frank seem really close based on what you’ve told me,” she commented. “I probably sound too curious, but are you two really just friends?”

Hazel chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to ask me that. And the answer is: sadly, yeah. I mean… I’ve told him I’d be ready for a relationship but… Frank seems to be worried about how it might affect our friendship. We’ve been friends for a long while, after all. And recently his grandma hasn’t been feeling well so that’s taken a lot of his time and attention. Frank doesn’t have other close relatives so he’s the one who’s been taking care of her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Calypso said sympathetically. As weird as it may have sounded, somehow hearing other people’s stories made her feel less alone in her situation. “I hope things will get better for both him and his grandma.”

“I have a feeling they will,” Hazel said mysteriously, not explaining why she felt that way. “And Frank is strong; he just isn’t aware of his strength yet.”

For some reason that comment made Calypso think of Leo, and ironically Hazel’s next question was: “Since I was honest with you, what about you then? Any special someone in your life?”  
Calypso felt her heated cheeks betray her yet again.

“Um, no, not really…” she replied, pretending to focus on her drink.

“Hey, I can detect a lie pretty easily,” Hazel noted calmly. “You wouldn’t have blushed if there wasn’t someone…” 

“Well… it is true that I am not seeing anyone.” Calypso tried to dodge Hazel's comment.

“But…”

“But… the situation is a bit complicated.”

Hazel watched her curiously while tasting her drink. “Oh, how so?”

Suddenly Calypso noticed she was telling her new friend a lot more than she had intended. Something about the girl’s aura just made her feel she could trust her.

“I… There’s this guy called Leo. He’s my flatmate. He can be a bit irritating and immature at times… For example, one time he tried to make me eat a very hot chili pepper even though he knew how hot it was… To be fair, though, I only ate the tip.” Hazel chuckled at that comment. “And he tells a lot of bad jokes and doesn’t seem to have a filter. I think he may be covering some of his insecurities with his jokes. That’s just my guess, though. But either way…”

“You like him,” Hazel finished for her.

“Uh… Like? I don’t know… No? Maybe…” When Hazel raised her eyebrow, Calypso was forced to say: “Okay, there is a small chance that I do like him. Sometimes his jokes are kind of funny. And his stupid grin has grown on me and his fluffy hair makes me want to ruffle it. It’s frustrating! He’s good with his hands - I mean, he can build machines from scratch - and he’s also really smart, like, he can solve problems I couldn’t even imagine trying in a very short time. He loves his dog and his family a lot. He can make pretty great tacos. And he’s trying very hard to get over a fear of his… but…”

“But it’s complicated because he’s your flatmate?” Hazel guessed this time.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Calypso said. “I mean, of course that is something to be considered. If we ever got together and then broke up, it would be really awkward to live in the same flat. But I’m not even sure how he feels about me. There are moments when we have a lot of fun together. But sometimes I feel like we can’t be 100 per cent honest with each other, and recently… he found out that I used to, well, I think ‘date’ is not a correct word to use because we only met once in real life, but I did use to talk a lot with a friend of his online, with a relationship in my mind. It happened over two years ago and we never were serious, but… it seemed to bother Leo and I’m not sure what I should tell him.” In reality, those weren’t the only reasons why Calypso thought the situation was complicated but she had to draw the line somewhere.

“Did you already tell him what you just told me?” Hazel asked while stirring her hot drink.

“I did try to explain it when Percy came to our place to pick his girlfriend… Who is, or was my friend and she’s not talking to me either… but I don’t know. He’s been acting very distant ever since that happened; just talking to me when necessary and even then it isn’t more than a couple of sentences. It’s getting pretty frustrating…”

“I can imagine that,” Hazel nodded. “I’m not a relationship expert by any means but there must be some reason why he reacted like that, right?”

“I guess so.” Calypso shrugged. “But… I don’t know. It could be anything. Maybe he’s worried about his friends.”

“I may be wrong but to me it kind of sounds like he wasn’t happy to hear about you and his friend because he might like you back. If he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t be giving you silent treatment,” Hazel noted.

“You really think so?” Calypso, a tiny hope rising in her even though she knew she shouldn’t wish too much.

“Hey, why wouldn’t he?” Hazel nudged Calypso’s elbow. “Haven’t you noticed that some of the guys in our art class keep whispering about you? One of them actually asked me if I knew if you are dating anyone. They are all over you. Don’t worry, though, I told him that even if I knew it wasn’t my business to tell.” She smiled at her encouragingly.

“Oh… thanks for taking my side there. I had no idea… But why didn’t they ask me directly?” Calypso asked, a bit flustered.

“I have a couple of guesses,” Hazel replied. “Either they consider you a bit intimidating… because you are pretty and smart and what not… or they think that someone like you possibly couldn’t be single and wanted to make sure before asking you.”

“That… feels weird,” Calypso said quietly. “I am not used to being a center of attention. Or in general being noticed by people who don’t have something to do with my family.”

“But how?” Hazel asked. “You’re exactly the kind of person who the others will notice.”

“It’s a long story… one I don’t like sharing… but the short version is that when I was a teenager I didn’t get to leave my house unless it was something really urgent or necessary. I was basically a…” Calypso couldn’t finish the sentence, the reality of that situation hitting her still very hard whenever she thought about it.

“A hostage,” Hazel said, looking shocked. Calypso nodded as a response. “That’s… that’s awful.”

“It… yeah,” Calypso said sadly. “We had a big house so I did have room to do a lot of things there but… my communication with people other than those who worked or visited there was cut to minimum. But… my father had reasons for doing so… I can only blame myself.”

“What do you mean?” Hazel asked with confusion.

“I did something…” Calypso hesitated. “I’m so sorry, I’m getting tired of saying this but… I can’t tell you. I haven’t told anyone…”

“I see.” Hazel nodded. “I’ve had some difficult experiences as well so I know where the limits go… Don’t worry, I won’t ask more. But if you do ever want to talk, you can trust me.”

“Thank you,” Calypso said, giving Hazel a small smile.

“No problem. Hey,” Hazel decided to change the topic, “you gotta introduce me to this Leo of yours at some point. He sounds like an interesting guy.”

Even though Calypso knew Hazel was just teasing her in a friendly matter, she couldn’t help but say: “He’s not ‘my Leo’! He’s just a flatmate. And sometimes he can be quite a pain in my butt.”

“But you already confessed that you may or may not like him,” Hazel said, sipping her coffee calmly, smiling into her cup.

“Whatever,” Calypso mumbled, without realizing it sounding a whole lot like the young man she was thinking of. “Well, what about this Frank? When will I get to meet him?”

“He will be here soon so if you want to, you can tag along with us for a bit.” Hazel looked at her watch.

“Do you think that’s OK with him? I don’t want to be the third wheel or anything.” Calypso asked.

“No worries, I’m sure Frank will be happy to meet you too.”

“Oh… OK. If you guys don’t mind, then I might come with you. I am not feeling like going home quite yet.” Calypso sighed, thinking about the sulking boy back in her flat.

“Alright! And hey, Frank is a nice guy, I think you guys will get along.”

“OK, I believe you,” Calypso nodded.

The girls continued talking about other things after that until Frank called Hazel that he had gotten out of the work and was waiting for her nearby. He said he was cool with Calypso tagging along and soon she learned that Hazel’s description of a teddy bear in a real bear’s body was quite accurate. He and Calypso had a shared love for animals so they talked a good while about Frank’s internship and other things related to the topic. Hanging out with Hazel and Frank, Calypso thought that it felt good for her to notice that there were people who did seem to like her company despite her background; maybe there was hope that Leo and Annabeth would come around eventually too.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dorks have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I'm running out of words for author's notes! Anyway, it's finally time for a(nother) Caleo centered chapter and needless to say, I did enjoy writing it :D I don't remember if I mentioned this drawing here but some time ago I drew a pic of how I imagine the Caleo flat somewhat looking like (pls don't mind me, I had to take some artistic liberties there) so here's a link to that: https://winryofresembool.tumblr.com/post/628357942762225664/i-decided-to-draw-leo-and-calypsos-flat-in-my-uni It might be useful when reading this chapter. 
> 
> Thank you again to everyone who commented the previous chapter(s), I just wanna let you know that I see you! And please keep them coming because I really really do love reading them. It's not always easy to stay motivated to keep writing a long fic but you guys certainly help me :)

It was another Saturday evening, and Calypso was trying to decide what to do. Her stress levels were pretty high due to the issues with the people who she had considered friends (she still hadn’t managed to talk to Leo, only awkwardly greeting him when they were in the same space), upcoming exam season and a reminder that her financial situation wouldn’t allow her to live on her own much longer. That’s why one side of her really just wanted to curl up in her bed with a good book and forget that the rest of the world existed. But she had also been invited to a fellow history student’s birthday party and one part of her said that maybe it would be a good idea to get to know her co students better, especially in her current situation.

Debating her options for a while, she decided that taking a shower would give her some extra time to make her decision. After taking her time in there, humming some old tune her mother had taught her, she took her towel from the wall and noticed her mistake. She usually took clean clothes with her into the bathroom when needed, mostly to avoid awkward situations in the corridor with her male flatmate, but this time she had been so distracted she had forgotten. She had already thrown her previous clothes in the laundry basket and didn’t feel like digging them from there, especially since she had decided to go to the party after all. Figuring that the odds that Leo would be in the common area in that moment anyway were pretty slim - she hadn’t at least heard any noises from there - she decided that it would be safe enough to just use the towel.

Just when she thought she was in the clear and was about to step into the safety of her own room, Leo’s door opened.

“Um, Calypso? I was wondering…”

That was all he managed to say before his face turned as red as a tomato because he realized that she was only wearing a towel. Calypso wanted to make a high pitched squeal but in the last moment she managed to gather some dignity and just grunted, pulling the door in front of her to give her more cover.

“Yeah? What is it?” She peeked from behind it.

“I… just… um, wanted to talk… um, because I feel this situation is getting, um, ridiculous, but… clearly this is a bad moment…” Leo stuttered, not even daring to look at the direction of Calypso’s door even though she was perfectly hidden behind it.

Calypso sighed. “Yeah. But… give me a couple of minutes… Maybe we can talk after that.”

“Al-alright,” Leo agreed and banged his door shut exactly at the same time with Calypso.

Once Calypso had picked clean clothes and seen from the mirror that she didn’t look quite as embarrassed as a few minutes earlier, she told Leo that she was ready to talk with him. He too seemed a bit calmer, although Calypso thought she still spotted some red in his elvish ears.

“Sorry ‘bout that, I heard you walking in the hallway and thought…” He ran his fingers through his hair, not seeming to know where else to put his hands.

Calypso wanted to snap just to let some frustrations from the past few weeks out but somehow Leo’s equal amount of embarrassment managed to mellow her down. “Don’t worry about it… It’s not like you saw anything, anyway.”

“Yeah… I mean I didn’t! Ugh, this is not how I wanted to do this! I mean, to talk with you!”

“Calm down, Repair Boy,” Calypso said and with that one nickname she managed to melt some of the ice that had gathered between them. “Nothing happened. In fact, I’ve been meaning to talk to you too...”

“You have?” Leo asked with surprise, finally managing to shake the embarrassment off.

“Yes.” Calypso nodded. “I… Listen. I don’t know what’s going on between us two. I don’t know how close you are with Percy. But I do know whatever happened between me and him happened over two years ago and we only saw each other face to face one time, like I already told you. I don’t feel anything towards him anymore and I never even expected to see him after I moved out of New York. So if you’re worried it might affect your friendship… you don’t have to. I don’t have anything to do with him anymore, and I don’t care who he’s seeing, and so on. And if it makes you feel any better, I only told him about my circumstances because I had to. Not because I find him more trustworthy than you. And even he knows just one part of it.” She wanted to reach out to him, put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, like she already had earlier, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. Instead she ended up crossing her arms over her chest.

“Alright,” Leo said finally after letting the information sink in. “Don’t worry about it. I think I overreacted too. To be honest, I’m not even sure why. I guess it might be because I was worried about you? You know, you’ve been trying to help me with my issues but you don’t let me… us help you. This super mysterious ‘thing’ just keeps popping up so I think it must be a big deal to you. You can trust us. But I guess I just need to learn to be more patient so I will try that…”

“Thank you”, Calypso said, this time managing a small, reassuring smile. “I appreciate it. And I… I want us to be able to be friends again. If that’s still something you want. Even if you are a bit of a nuisance sometimes…” She smirked playfully. “… It would mean a lot to me.”

“A nuisance or not, to me it sounds like you secretly like hanging out with me.” Leo retorted back, his face lighting up like the sun. 

Calypso threw her hands in the air dramatically. “Fine, I may actually enjoy your company sometimes but don’t go boasting about that all around the campus.”

“C’mon, you know I’m not actually like that.” Leo snorted. “What happens in the flat number 7 stays in flat number 7.” Calypso looked at him in disbelief so he had to add: “Well, sometimes I talk to Piper but that’s only because she basically has magic powers or something, nothing stays a secret from her.”

“I will keep that in my mind,” Calypso chuckled, but then got serious again. “Hey, are we good now? I mean, you don’t mind even if I don’t…”

“Yeah, it’s OK. Piper also said that I should respect your privacy and I know she’s right there.”

“Thanks,” Calypso answered, genuinely relieved. She couldn’t help but tease Leo a bit, though, because he seemed to like it as much as she did. “Smart girl, that Piper. You should start listening to her more often.”

“What? Are you implying that I’m not smart? I have you know back in high school I had the average of...,” Leo protested, put Calypso cut him out.

“Alright.” She lifted one of her hands towards Leo as a sign of stop. “I believe you. But you know what? I’m kind of hungry right now. Would you be up for some Chinese?”

“I… I thought you were going to go somewhere,” Leo said with confusion, gesturing towards Calypso’s clothes. He knew her well enough to be able to tell that when Calypso wanted to stay at home on Saturday, she was wearing her pajamas instead of a nice, white dress with some flower prints on it.

Calypso got flustered when she realized she had already forgotten about her earlier plans. “Oh… I was… Someone I know from the university has a birthday party… But truth to be told, I was kind of torn about going… and I don’t think anyone’s really expecting to see me there anyway.”

Leo’s quickly changing expressions told her that he was both surprised by her decision and also wanted to tease her to get a ‘revenge’ for her earlier teasing but for once he managed to bite his urge.   
“So… you’re going to hang out with me instead?”

“Yeah. If that’s cool with you.”

“I thought you’d never ask! Hey, I was thinking, we could…”

Leo started blabbering about all the games and movies and TV shows he wanted to show Calypso. Some of it went right through Calypso’s ears but she was still happy to listen to him talk about things that made him excited, and to see that they were capable of being the way they had been before the Percy incident. As they were huddled on the sofa eating their Chinese food while laughing at some funny scenes on Brooklyn 99, Calypso thanked herself for deciding to stay at home in the end.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso and Annabeth have an important encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally time for some Annabeth action! Just a fair warning, since next Friday is the Christmas day and the Friday after that the New Year, I am not sure when I'm going to be able to post again. Be prepared for at least one week's break, possibly even two. But don't worry because more is definitely coming! With that said, merry Christmas/happy holidays to those who celebrate! I hope you'll have a good one, and here's hoping that 2021 is more hopeful than this goddamn year. Well, it did bring me Caleo so for that I'm grateful.
> 
> I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!!
> 
> Calypso is the bolded text and Hazel the regular in the texting part.

Getting Leo to talk to her again was a huge weight off of Calypso’s shoulders, but there was still more to be done. Annabeth still kept to herself during the history lectures and Calypso didn’t want to force her to talk; she felt Annabeth should be the one to initiate it. From what Calypso had heard, Piper had tried to talk to her earlier, but so far Calypso hadn’t noticed any significant changes in Annabeth’s behavior. When she walked into the lecture hall that day, she noticed the blonde girl on the opposite side of the room, focused on her book. Letting a small sigh out of her mouth, she went to her usual seat pretty far from Annabeth.

Since the lecture wouldn’t start for a few more minutes, Calypso decided to use the time by checking her phone. When she opened her messenger, she considered for a moment to whom she should text. Her first instinct told her she should contact Leo, but she imagined he was probably busy going to his own lecture at that moment, so she ended up scrolling through her other contacts instead. Noticing that Hazel seemed to be online, she started typing to her.

 **10:05: Hi, Hazel**  
10:05: Hi there! Was just thinking about you!  
**10:06: You were? How come?**  
10:06: Frank just texted me that on his morning jog near the campus today he had run into someone he had apparently recently met somewhere (he didn’t tell me where exactly).  
10:07: and they had talked for a while.  
10:07: At some point Frank mentioned the guy’s first name was Leo. I’m pretty sure it was /the/ Leo!!  
**10:08: How can you be so sure? I’m sure there are plenty of Leos around this campus. It’s not a rare name.**  
10:09: no but hear me out. The description matches with what you’ve told me. He said he’s a mechanic with a dog and when I asked Frank what he looked like, he said ‘dark hair, scrawny, eyes look like there’s some mischief going on in that head of his all the time but he’s not actually that bad when you talk to him’  
**10:09: I admit that does sound like the Leo I know**  
10:09: I told you! What a small world it is, apparently the boys we’re interested in know each other!  
**10:10: Still feels so weird when you put it that directly. You’re the only one who knows so far. So please, if you somehow happen to see him as well, don’t say anything.**  
10:10: Alright, I won’t. But you should! If he’s anything like the boys in our art class I’m sure he’s all over you by now.  
**10:10: Hazel!**  
10:11: Sorry, sorry. But you did talk to him after that… situation you had?  
**10:11: I did. We’re good now. Thanks for the advice the other day, by the way. It did help.**  
10:12: Ha, so you’re saying I gave you good advice. Could that mean that maybe you should also reread what I just said a moment ago?  
**10:12: Sorry, I gotta go. Something came up. TTYL!**  
10:13: Calypso!!  
10:13: That’s so rude :P

Calypso hadn’t lied, though. She had noticed someone sneaking from the other side of the hall to the seat behind her, and that someone happened to be her friend to whom she hadn’t properly spoken for several weeks now. Trying to stay on her seat as neutrally as possible, still watching her now dark phone screen, she waited for Annabeth to start the conversation.

There was a tap on her shoulder. “Cal…” she finally heard Annabeth’s familiar voice say quietly.

“Yeah?” Calypso asked tentatively, slowly turning on her seat to see the speaker.

“I think we should talk,” Annabeth stated more firmly.

“Um, sure,” Calypso answered but didn’t have time to say more when the professor stopped her, starting the lecture. “After this class, OK?”

“Right.” Annabeth nodded. Then she turned her focus to the professor, but Calypso noticed that not for long. She started doodling something into her notebook and was tapping on the floor with her foot, a habit that Calypso had noticed was very familiar to Leo, especially when he was nervous. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that Annabeth also had dyslexia and ADHD like him. The information seemed to come to her so naturally… but before the Percy incident, Annabeth had revealed that especially when she had been younger she usually had had to read the textbooks at least 5 times before she had finally absorbed what she had read. Later on, with the help of a teacher that actually understood her learning disability, she had learned some other methods that seemed to help her. One side of Calypso thought that it was relieving to see Annabeth show signs of weakness because usually she seemed so good at everything she did that it was mildly intimidating.

Soon Calypso realized that she herself had trouble focusing on what the professor was explaining while thinking about what she should tell Annabeth after the class. What could she say that she already hadn’t in the previous time? That she absolutely hated Annabeth’s boyfriend’s guts? That her flatmate made her feel weird things when they were in the same room so there was absolutely no need to be jealous?

Once the lecture was over, Calypso packed her things and gestured to Annabeth that they should have their conversation outside the lecture hall. They were walking silently until most of their fellow students had split into their own directions and found a quiet spot by the windows. There were some armchairs spread around the corridor to make it seem more comfortable and the girls sat down on two of them. 

“I take it you may have changed your mind about me,” Calypso said directly once she had settled on her seat, feeling there was no need to tiptoe around the topic.

“I… yeah,” Annabeth started, and for a brief moment Calypso thought she showed a tiny bit of fragility. Suddenly she realized that maybe Annabeth wasn’t being her usual confident self, because she wasn’t that great at dealing with her feelings. Things like maths, chemistry and physics were simple to her because there were certain rules that needed to be applied. But the human mind was harder to read, Calypso knew that much. “Sometimes I think there are two different Annabeths: one that is very protective and jealous when it comes to the people she cares about, and then there’s the rational Annabeth who tries to yell to the other one that she is being ridiculous. I’m sorry. I overreacted.”

Calypso shook her head. “No, I think I can understand why it bothered you. I hate keeping things from you, but I promised to myself… I mean, it is safer to not get you guys involved.”

“But… why? What could happen?” Annabeth asked, folding her arms.

“I’m not going to go to details but my father… I’m sure you have figured out by now that he is not a nice guy. When he doesn’t like someone, or someone tries to get into his way… Good things don’t usually follow that. And I mean it. There is a very good reason why I moved this far from my previous home. To be honest, I would have liked to go all the way to Greece but that just wasn’t possible.”  
“So you’re saying that your father is what you’re afraid of? And he could get us - I mean your friends - into trouble if you shared too much information with us?” Annabeth collected the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Basically, yes. But please, don’t ask more. I may already have said too much,” Calypso said worriedly.

“Don’t worry. My lips are definitely sealed,” Annabeth reassured her.

“Thanks.” Calypso hesitated a bit. “Um, can I ask you something?” 

“Go ahead,” Annabeth nodded.

Calypso shifted a bit on her seat, trying to get more comfortable. “If I’m honest, I was not expecting you to forgive me that whole Percy thing that easily. What changed your mind?”

“Well, let me just tell you that you have some very good friends who managed to persuade me.” Annabeth gave her a playful smile.

“Huh? Who?” Calypso knew that Piper had talked to Annabeth but she didn’t know there were others as well.

“First of all, Percy convinced me that there was absolutely no reason to be jealous. I’m not going to tell you how he did it, but he can be pretty sweet when he wants to. Besides, between you and me: Seaweed Brain just can’t lie to me. I can read him like a book.” Annabeth’s smile only widened as she said that.

“OK.” Calypso didn’t think she wanted to hear more about that topic.

“But that wasn’t all. Piper also talked to me,” Annabeth added.

“What did she say?” Calypso asked curiously.

Annabeth’s eyes started sparkling mischievously. “A lot of things,” she started, “but she reminded me of some events that happened before Percy’s arrival that evening.”

“I don’t understand you now,” Calypso pretended to be stupid even though she was already guessing where Annabeth was going with her statement. “What events?”

“I don’t know…” Annabeth tapped her fingers against her forehead. “I think hugging, cupcake sharing and flirty bickering was involved. Keyword: think. I guess the people involved know more about that than I do.”

“That was… that was just us being friendly!” Calypso rushed to deny. “And what was so flirty about our bickering? We do that all the time and I’m not trying to…”

“Relax, Cal,” Annabeth stopped her. “It just kind of reminded me of me and Percy. But if you say so…”

Calypso groaned slightly. “Fine, you won. Again. Maybe… I may be starting to like him. But that doesn’t mean anything. He probably doesn’t like me back. And it wouldn’t work out for various reasons. I… When I moved here, I really thought I could just forget about everything that happened in my past and start to live my life. But it turns out that my past is still following me and stopping me from forming functional relationships. Besides… none of my former relationships worked. I may have been a kid back then but I made some bad decisions and it wrecked my self confidence. I don’t want to get hurt again and I also don’t want to hurt Leo. He has a very good heart, despite his weirdnesses…”

“Calypso, I know from my own experiences that ghosts of your past can be hard to fight. I have had plenty of family issues of my own in the past and they have probably influenced my later decisions, I admit that. But you seem to have taken an attitude that you have to deal with it alone. But you don’t. Let us help you. Maybe I can’t speak for all of us but I know I’m not afraid of your father. It is always possible to fight if you just come up with a good strategy.”

“This is probably a weird comment but that sounded like something I’d imagine the goddess Athena say. Are you sure you’re not her? Or related?” Calypso attempted to joke.

“Last time I checked, all of us were regular people,” Annabeth chuckled. “I admit I’m probably not quite as advanced in the greek mythology as you are although I have studied some of it, of course. But your question reminded me of this book series I read as a kid: Peter Johnson and the Olympians. The characters in it were children of Greek gods and I always wished that I’d be like one of the main characters who was a daughter of Athena.”

“Ooh, I read that series too!” Calypso said enthusiastically. “It was kind of cute although now that I know more about history and Greek mythology, not all the characters are quite like I picture them in my head. But I appreciate the effort to make the mythology more known to young readers.”

“Right! I agree.” Annabeth nodded before realizing they had gotten pretty far from the original topic. “Sorry, we got a bit sidetracked here. I seriously do hope that you’ll let us help if needed. I myself am gonna try to be more patient and let you do it on your own terms, though.”

“Thanks, Annabeth. Um, about that Leo part, though…” Calypso felt her cheeks heat again and she wanted to curse her silly mind for reacting like that every time she thought about her flatmate. “Would you please be kind and keep it between us? I just really am not ready to deal with that yet…”

“Fine. I’ll let it be. For now. But maybe think about it. Who knows, you could be surprised by what might happen…” Annabeth said mysteriously.

“What do you mean?” Calypso frowned.

“Like I said, there are people who are ready to help you carry your burden even though you’re too absorbed by your issues to notice that. That’s all.”

“O-kay,” Calypso said suspiciously, wondering what Annabeth’s statement implied. 

“You should know that one of the people who talked with me was Leo. He said he had noticed that you were feeling pretty down since the… incident and that you seemed to blame yourself for everything. And that you also felt very bad about not being honest. That’s what really opened my eyes and made me decide that I need to get over my grudge that doesn’t even make sense. I got what I wanted, didn’t I? Logically thinking, you should be the one who’s mad at me.”

“That Leo…” Calypso was so focused on that part for a moment that it took her a while to register what else Annabeth had said. “Um, sorry. To be honest, I think the Calypso from a couple of years ago would have been mad. But my priorities have changed and I also realized that Percy is way happier with you.”

“I’m glad you’re not holding a grudge, though,” Annabeth said. 

“Life’s too short for that,” Calypso shrugged. 

“I guess so. So, we’re friends, right?”

“Right,” Calypso confirmed, giving Annabeth a genuine smile. Some hope had risen in her heart again and she made a mental note to thank a certain mechanic later at home.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo Valdez can be sweet when he wants to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break! The holidays were a rather busy time for me so it did good to take some time off from writing. But now I'm back for my weekly updates (at least I hope I am)! And not just with any chapter but a long-ish chapter full of Caleo fluff :) I really hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know what you think because I 100% mean it when I say I love reading your comments!!

Once Calypso had made up with Leo and Annabeth, she had new issues to deal with. When she paid her rent for the month, she noticed that she only had enough money for one more month’s rent, not even including the other living costs such as food, other daily necessities and school supplies. She had pushed back the job hunting earlier partially because the friendship issues had made her feel too low to care about that kind of thing, partially because she had no idea what she could do, only having a high school level education and no special skills. She had only ever worked at her father’s company and that was not something she wanted to advertise in her applications. But now she was in a situation that unless she wanted to return to the very place she wanted to stay away from, she had to come up with something.

Annabeth and Piper had seen some of the clothes and other items she had sewed and made with her own hands and encouraged her to sell them but Calypso herself wasn’t entirely convinced they were good enough to be sold. She was also a decent enough artist but with a class full of artists just as good (some even better) than her, what would make her stand out in the public? Her people skills weren’t amazing either so she doubted that she would make a good retail worker. But she knew she would probably have to come out of her comfort zone in this case, so if anyone was willing to hire her, she’d accept it.

She was startled when she suddenly heard a familiar voice from the other room: “Sunshine, I’mma head out to buy some groceries and stuff for a new project. You need anything?”

In some other situation, Calypso would have been thankful for the offer, but she was still feeling like a nervous wreck because of her earlier discovery. That’s why the words escaped her before she could stop herself: “Huh? No, I don’t think so? And I can still buy my own groceries, thank you very much.”

“Sorry, I just thought I’d ask… I didn’t mean to…” Leo seemed a bit baffled by her outburst. He was already about to head out when Calypso came out of her room and stopped him.

“No, I’m sorry.” She sighed, looking regretful. “I was just on the edge because I just noticed my financial situation isn’t exactly the best… But that is something I need to figure out on my own, I don’t want charity.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna buy you a car or anything,” Leo tried to crack a joke. “Just thought that if you’re running out of milk or something, I could have saved you the trouble… Since I’m going there anyway…”

“Oh… no, I don’t think I need anything,” she said, this time a lot softer. “But thank you for asking.”

“No prob, Sunshine,” Leo replied, looking relieved now that he knew she wasn’t actually angry at him. “But hey, if you do need help with, like, searching for a job, or something, I’m your man.”

Calypso tried to keep her face neutral even though she had a feeling her cheeks were probably red. “I’ll… keep that in my mind.”

“Well, see you soon,” Leo said after the two just kept staring at each other for a while. He seemed to be sizing her, possibly still a bit thrown off by her weird reaction before he put his coat on (Calypso noticed it was the same shade of red as a lot of his shirts seemed to be. And it was also rather snugly fit, definitely not a bad sight, she thought before she had time to stop herself) and took his bags, leaving her alone.

“See you,” she said quietly when the door was already closed.

Once sure that Leo was far enough and not coming back, Calypso leaned her back against the wall of her room, sliding down into a sitting position on the floor. Throwing her head back, she groaned at herself. She had thought that the small falling out they had had because of the Percy incident might have affected her feelings towards Leo, but it seemed to become clearer and clearer every day that wasn’t the case. Even if she had admitted to Hazel and Annabeth that those feelings were not quite flatmate like, it was a whole different thing to really come to terms with that fact. She was falling quite hard.

The more she thought about it, the more she freaked out. Her relationships before one faithful day during her teenage years had failed badly (and that was over 5 years ago anyway) and the online dating she had done afterwards… Well, now that Calypso thought about it, only the conversation with Percy had seemed to be going somewhere. All the people she had cared about had left her and never come back. That, along with the fact that she had spent a lot of time alone in the past, had left her scared of relationships and ruined her self esteem, making her think that she simply wasn’t good enough. If Leo left too… she wasn’t sure how she’d handle that. Not to even mention, her dad was still probably looking for her and getting Leo mixed into that would be very dangerous for him. No matter what Annabeth said about wanting to help.

Biting her lip, she decided there was only one option. No matter what she felt, she should try to treat Leo just like any of her friends and conceal her true feelings. Having Leo in her life just as a flatmate was way better than not having him in it at all. When she remembered her friends’ hints that perhaps Leo himself wasn’t as indifferent to her as he probably should be, she suddenly felt like crying. In different circumstances… maybe they could be happy together, go on dates, hold hands… Now she would inevitably have to let him go when someone else would realize that Leo was a great person worth dating.

Calypso didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, and she also hadn’t noticed that there were tears running down her cheeks. She didn’t snap out of her daze until she heard the front door clunking again, this time indicating that Leo had already returned.

“Please just ignore me…” Calypso ranted in her head, but no luck. She heard steps from outside her room, stopping right in front of it. Swiping her wet cheeks quickly into her hands, she stood up from the floor just in time for Leo to knock on her door. Calypso didn’t really want to open it when she was in that emotional state but she knew that not answering would raise even more questions. Her messy looks she could always try to shrug off as a ‘bad day’, she decided.

“Yeah?” she asked weakly, opening the door to reveal her flatmate with that stupid trademark grin of his on his face. He seemed pretty happy about something he had or was about to do. The late autumn wind had made his curly hair even messier than usual and his cheeks were red from the cold weather and the exercise but his eyes were sparkling excitedly, like he couldn’t wait to show her something.  
He started: “I went to the hardware store and…” He quickly stopped when he noticed Calypso’s expression and puffy eyes. His happiness immediately melted away. “Hey, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

“It’s been a rough day,” Calypso sighed, looking down. “Don’t worry, I was just being overwhelmed by the loads of uni work before the exam season. And like I told you before, I need a job… But… it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Alright, if you’re sure…” Leo narrowed his eyes slightly, probably sensing that she wasn’t telling him the entire truth. “But yeah, I was gonna give you something. Hope it cheers you up a bit.  
He handed her a tiny packet of what seemed like flower seeds but before Calypso had time to read the text on it, he started explaining.

“So, I was gonna tell you that I went to the hardware store to buy me some supplies, and you know how they sell all kinds of seeds there as well? Well, I just happened to notice these while waiting for my turn to pay for my stuff and I just randomly decided to buy them.”

“But… why?” Calypso asked, finally looking at Leo directly.

“Um…” He started rubbing the back of his neck. “Remember when Festus jumped on your desk and broke it? There was a plant on it too… and I never replaced it. When I saw those,” he nodded towards the packet Calypso was holding, “I remembered that the plant looked like that… At least I think it did… I’m no good with that kind of stuff… But I know you care about your plants… so I thought it’d be only fair if I got you those. I know it’s not gonna be the exact same one you had, but…”

Leo didn’t manage to finish his sentence because Calypso couldn’t contain her feelings anymore. She closed the space between them and hugged him even tighter than the time they had had a game night with Jason and Piper. No one had gotten anything for her in years, and even if the seed bags didn’t cost much, it was the thought that mattered way more to her. She had never expected him to remember such a detail from several months ago when they hadn’t even been friends, but apparently he did.

“Uh, Cal, some air would be nice,” Leo said jokingly when it started seeming she didn’t even want to let him go. He didn’t attempt to break the hug, though, instead gently stroking her back. “Wow, Sunshine,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, “You’d think I bought you a house based on your reaction.”

Calypso raised her head from his shoulder, giving him a half hearted glare as she broke the hug.

“I’m not allowed to be thankful for a gift? You don’t know… You don’t understand…”

“Understand what?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

Calypso took a deep breath before answering. “I haven’t gotten gifts from anyone since I turned 16. And even then it was just… uh, never mind. The point is that I’m not used to such nice gestures… And I didn’t think you’d remember… It was my favorite plant. So excuse me if I’m feeling a bit emotional because your gift was more thoughtful than you probably realized.”

“OK, sorry,” Leo apologized quickly. “If you’re not used to nice gestures, I’m not used to displays of affection so I got a bit surprised, that’s all… Well, either way, I’m glad I got you something you care about.”

Calypso’s expression softened again. “Yeah. Thank you. I’m sure they will look pretty.”

Suddenly Calypso realized she was feeling a little dizzy, not sure if from the crying or from the smell of the mechanic oil she had just smelled on Leo’s shirt as she had hugged him. Sitting down on her bed, she leaned her face into her hands.

“Um, are you really OK?” Leo asked. “I know it’s not any of my business, but… if I can help you somehow, let me know.”

After a while, Calypso looked up from her hands, having half expected Leo to leave already. “If you happen to know anyone who’d be willing to hire an inexperienced, uneducated young woman, sure, be my guest,” she muttered.

“Hey.” Leo sat down next to Calypso on her bed, nudging her arm slightly. “Where’s the Calypso who has told me to fight my fear? I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who’d be willing to hire you if they knew how talented you are.”

“Wait… what?” Calypso wasn’t sure if she had heard right. Even if they had been friendly towards each other for a while now, she didn’t remember Leo complimenting her like that before. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true!” Leo exclaimed, his eyes gleaming fiercely the same way Calypso had seen a couple of times earlier. “You are a talented person and even I can see that. You can draw and paint – I bet you’d do way better blueprints for machines than I do. To be honest, I’d probably hire you to do that if I could. You create a lot of things with your own hands – like that one dress you wore the other day, right? Like, OK, I wear overalls all the time so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I thought it looked neat.”

“But…”

“But there are other things as well,” Leo continued persistently. “You know a lot and you’re always working on something – if not something university related, you take care of your plants or bake or something like that – and I think under that hard cover of yours you’re actually a super caring person. I dunno, those are things that at least I value. But maybe I’m the weird one here.” He rolled his eyes as if everything he had just said had been very obvious.

“Leo…” Calypso just stared at him with wide eyes, not finding the right words. She hadn’t been emotionally prepared for Leo showering her with compliments. If her cheeks had felt warm earlier, they were definitely burning now, and her eyes felt weird too… like she was going to cry again. “I…”

“Shhh. Crying doesn’t suit you, Sunshine. Luckily Uncle Leo is good at bad jokes that make the ladies laugh. How about this: What do you give to a sick lemon? Or… why didn't the astronaut come home to his wife?”

“Leonidas,” Calypso repeated but this time she did it with an annoyed groan. That was apparently what Leo had wished, though, because he grinned at her in return.

“Alright, I won’t finish that one!” he raised his hands up. “But it did work because there’s still some spice left in you. That’s what I wanted to see.”

“You’re the only person I know who can literally go from 100 to 0 when trying to cheer someone up,” Calypso said, but her mouth twitched. “But thanks. As much as I hate to admit it, I think it might have worked. For your information,” she added unexpectedly, “you give lemon aid to a sick lemon and the astronaut needed his space.”

“I think my job here is done,” Leo said approvingly, taking one step closer to her. Calypso had seen his brown eyes sparkling when he was happy and burning when he was mad but now she thought they seemed soft and warm, unlike she had seen before. And her heart skipped a beat when she registered that the reason for the warmth might have been… she herself. He looked at her right in the eyes and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear before his fingers moved to her face. He brushed some of the wetness off with his thumb and for one, short second Calypso thought that he also wanted to do something else… touch her jaw, her lips… But that moment ended fast when he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. One, tiny part of Calypso’s brain yelled: “no!” while the rational part tried to be relieved.

“Um… You had something there…” Leo tried to brush his previous actions off. “Anyway. Like I said I have no doubt someone wouldn’t hire you. But now that I think of it, I remember hearing from my moms that one of their friends is looking for a holiday helper at her flower shop that is quite near Waystation. The holidays are always a busy time there and the owner’s daughter, who has usually been the one helping, has moved away, so they could really use an extra hand.”

“A flower shop?” Calypso asked, hope starting to flicker in her eyes. “Do you think they may have a lot of applicants?”

“Who knows.” Leo shrugged. “I think it might be a pretty popular place… but you can’t win if you don’t try, huh?”

“Yeah. You’re right,” Calypso agreed. “Do you know how I can contact the place?”

“Hold on for a moment. I can call Emmie and ask,” Leo said and left Calypso alone in her room, baffled by what had just happened but also a bit hopeful. Maybe at least something would turn out right even if her social life would probably continue to be a mess.

A few minutes later Leo returned with a piece of paper in his hands and a satisfied expression on his face. It told Calypso that he had managed to get the number.

“Here you go, Sunshine! Hope you’ll still remember me and how I helped you when you become rich and famous.” He winked.

“I know I’ve told you this before but you really are a weirdo,” Calypso shot back but took the piece of paper gratefully. She excused herself to make a phone call and managed to get a hold of the owner of the flower shop who suggested a meeting for the next day. After finishing the phone call, Calypso searched for Leo who had withdrawn into the living room to watch a movie.

“So… I’m going to have an interview with the owner tomorrow,” she told him. “Keep your thumbs up that it will go fine. I’m kind of nervous, to be honest.”

“I’d keep even my big toes up if needed but I think you’re gonna do great,” Leo noted. “For reals. Have some faith.”

“Easier said than done,” Calypso sighed. “You probably understand.”

“I… yeah,” Leo admitted, thinking about one moment only about a week earlier when he had felt like nothing would work out. “But for what it’s worth, there are people who do support you.”

“You too?” Calypso asked carefully even though she was a bit scared of his answer.

“Yeah, me included.” Leo nodded.

“Listen, Leo… Thanks… for everything you’ve done for me today. Not just the seeds and the phone number, the emotional support too. It really helped.”

She surprised even herself by leaning closer to Leo and giving him a quick peck on his cheek. He went completely speechless and just rubbed the spot on his cheek Calypso had kissed absentmindedly as Calypso waited for him to say something.

“Uhh… you… you’re welcome?” he finally stuttered when Calypso had already started thinking she had crossed some line with the cheek kiss and they were back on square one.

“I should probably go back to do some research…” she said. “I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything lately but I’m feeling better now so hopefully I will manage to make some progress with some assignments. Have fun with your movie!” She attempted to sound cheerful even though the two sides of her brain were having an intense battle in that moment. One said: ‘why don’t you just stay with him? The assignment can wait!” while the other side wanted to run from that situation before Calypso did something she would regret.

“Alright… Thanks. And good luck with that!” Leo said. Calypso was convinced that she just imagined it but to her he had seemed just a bit disappointed that she hadn’t joined him. When she was back in her room, she exhaled sharply. So much for that ‘being just friends’. She would really have to start working harder on that before someone got hurt.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween chapter, pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first part of possibly a long Halloween 'arc' that is to come! (Yes I know, Halloween was a long time ago, but please bear with me.) Now, I have to warn you that I only have 1 more chapter as a draft version and the said chapter is a mess and has caused me a lot of insecurities so... I'm not entirely sure how long it will take me to work through the issues that chapter has. I still hope I will have something to post next Friday! Please be patient with me, I promise I have every intention to continue and finish this story. 
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely comments the previous chapter got! You guys are the best :) And keep them coming because that is literally the best reward I can get :)

“Hey Sunshine, you ready?” Leo asked her flatmate one November Friday as he was pulling his winter coat on in the hallway.

“In a minute!” Calypso yelled from her room. “Just… One final touch up!”

Leo checked his watch. “Okay, as long as it’s really a minute! You know Argo II isn’t waiting!” 

“You do know that Argo II doesn’t have feelings, right? It’s a car,” his non-understanding flatmate argued.

“You better hope he didn’t hear that!” Leo protested. “He may just not turn on at all if you claim such things.”

“Oh my gods, Leo. Sometimes I wonder if you care about your machines more than people.”

Leo didn’t respond to that. To himself he mumbled. “At least I know how to fix them. And can’t hurt them.”

The flatmates were getting ready to leave for Jason and Piper’s late Halloween party. Most of the members of their friend group had been busy doing their own things on the real Halloween weekend but they had decided that they’d still want to have a small gathering at Jason and Piper’s house on a later date. Percy and Annabeth would be there, as well as Jason’s sister Thalia, her ‘friend’ Reyna, and Jason’s friend and a distant relative Nico. To Calypso Leo had told, that he had only met Nico a couple of times, because apparently Nico was a bit of a lonely soul and he wandered around the country doing who knows what. That fall, though, he had apparently met someone who had managed to keep him rooted to his home, so Leo suspected that there was a possibility that Nico really would show up this time.

Leo snapped out of his thoughts when Calypso’s door was pulled open, revealing the girl in her costume. His mouth opened involuntarily as he took her in. She was wearing a white chiton like dress with golden decorations around the neckline and accessories that matched the theme. Those included a golden headband and a belt, a bracelet made of real flowers, strappy leather sandals and since her own hair was short now, she had gotten a caramel colored wig that she had braided to one side, reminding Leo a lot of the hairstyle Calypso had had when she had moved in. She smiled at Leo shyly.  
“Well, what do you think?” She asked, lifting the hem of her dress slightly to show it off better.

“You’re… you’re…” Leo felt the words escape him again. With frustration he wondered how one person could do that to him. Leo Valdez never ran out of words.

“Calypso?” she tried to guess what he had wanted to say.

‘What?” He asked with confusion, unable to follow Calypso’s track of thoughts. In his mind he had answered her question ‘prettier than greek goddesses’ but he realized too late that she had meant that she was dressed up like the Calypso from the Greek mythology. “Oh, now I got it. Must have sniffed too much machine oil or something…Anyway, I see you have some self irony, dressing as your name sake.”

“That was kind of the point, Valdez. A girl named Calypso who studies Greek mythology? People comment on my name so often that I decided it’s time to make it clear that yes, I’m aware of that coincidence.”

“Ooh, the great revenge,” Leo chuckled. Suddenly he noticed that Calypso had turned more serious, her hands fiddling with her purse.

“Really, though, what do you think of this? I made this dress and these bracelets myself. And my mum gave me this before we moved here,” she pointed at her headband. “Apparently it’s something that’s been running in our family; my grandma wore it in her wedding picture and so on…”

“Oh… Well… that’s cool,” Leo said, mentally cursing the ‘error’ message on his brain. “You did a good job. I mean… I once saw a painting of Calypso in the Indianapolis Museum of Art and I think you look nothing like her… in a good way!”

“Aww, thank you.” Calypso seemed happily surprised about Leo’s comment, and he swore the expression made her even cuter. He also wondered if he should have a doctor check his heart because it seemed to do funny things in her presence...

“You’re welcome?” he replied stupidly.

“So, where is your costume?” Calypso asked curiously, apparently only now paying attention to the fact that he indeed wasn’t wearing one yet. “I thought you said we’re in a hurry.”

“I can’t drive in mine, it’s difficult to see from under it,” Leo explained, returning to his room to get a huge sports bag where he had packed his creation a bit earlier. He had spent several days making it and he was kind of proud of the final result. Although, seeing Calypso now, for a moment he still wondered if he had made a mistake with his costume choice, but it was too late to change his mind now. “I’ll put it on when we get there.” He gestured towards the bag.

“Okay,” Calypso nodded while changing her shoes into more fall suitable ones. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you have come up with.”

“Good, because it will blow your mind,” Leo claimed.

“I will refrain from forming any opinions before I see it,” Calypso noted, putting her keys into her pocket. “Now, come on, mister Mysterious, I hear Argo II isn’t very patient.”

Leo secretly loved it when Calypso attempted to joke back, and he grinned at her as he held the door open so she could leave first.

“Let’s go then, Sunshine.”

…

The drive to Jason and Piper took about 20 minutes so Leo and Calypso had a lot of time to talk about whatever came to their minds. At first Calypso gave Leo pretty short answers and he got worried that something was wrong between them again, but eventually Leo got her curious about the guests at the party that she hadn’t met yet.

“The Hunters are traveling a lot because of their competitions so I haven’t met Thalia that often. She’s a little bit scary, though. She has this edgy look going on and I’ve heard she is super strong; she’d ninja throw me on the floor before I’d have time to say Festus if given a chance. I’m trying very hard not to give her any reasons to do that.”

“Ouch. She sounds like something else,” Calypso said.

“She is,” Leo confirmed, almost getting chills only thinking about her. “She can be nice if you get to her good side, though.”

“Is it just me or does someone have a crush?” Calypso asked teasingly.

“What? No!” Leo exclaimed, glancing at Calypso’s reaction briefly. “Alright, maybe I used to have but that was when I didn’t know what was the best for me. But that was a long time ago. Besides, she’s totally dating someone even though they won’t admit it.” ‘And I wish I was dating someone else as well’, he thought, but left that unsaid.

“Oh? Will I get to meet that person today?” Calypso asked with curiosity.

“I think you will. From what I know Reyna’s always with Thalia. They claim they are only best friends but Jason has told me that they are keeping a low profile because it’s forbidden inside their team to date their teammates.”

“That sounds like a basis for a tragic love story,” Calypso said while staring out of the window with a dreamy expression. “I don’t even know these people but as a hopeless romantic I hope they will find some solution.”

Leo thought Calypso was very cute when she talked like that “Yeah. I hope.”

“So, do you know this Reyna personally?” she asked then, distracting Leo from his thoughts.

“You could say that,” Leo answered, trying to focus on the road instead of the girl next to him. “The team visits Waystation regularly because Jo and Emmie used to coach them back in the day and as a fellow Spanish speaker Reyna has always paid special attention to me. I swear, sometimes she treats me like I was his little brother…”

“Aww, that’s kind of sweet in my opinion. What is this team you were talking about, though? Did you say Hunters?”

“Oh, yep. The Artemis’ Hunters, named after the Greek goddess Artemis, naturally. It’s an archery group… Hey, is everything alright?”

Leo couldn’t help but notice that Calypso had shifted uncomfortably on her seat and adjusted her seatbelt a bit looser around her shoulder when he had said the name.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I just… used to know someone who was in the Hunters as well, so I was surprised they have some connections here, that’s all.” Calypso turned her head to stare out of the window, sending Leo signals that he should drop the topic. He decided to push it a little bit further, though.

“You did? But you said ‘was’. Is she not in it anymore?”

“No,” Calypso shook her head, but didn’t elaborate.

“OK.” Leo sighed. A few moments earlier Calypso had been smiling and teasing him about some old crush and now she was acting cold again. Clearly the Hunters were a painful topic for her, but Leo couldn’t figure out why. Had something happened to the person Calypso had known? And why did she have to be so secretive? Leo wanted so badly to be able to help her and understand her, but when she was not opening up, it was very hard to do anything about it.

“Any guesses about what my costume may be?” He decided to change the topic. That seemed to cheer his flatmate up a bit. 

Calypso closed her eyes while thinking, a tiny smile forming on her face. “Hmmm, I imagine it’s probably something flashy. But knowing you it could also be your work coveralls and working boots. I know how much you love those, after all.”

“It’s flashy, alright,” Leo said, his grin returning back to his face. “I’ll give you another hint: it’s a character from one of my favorite TV shows or movies.”

“You have a lot of those,” Calypso reminded him. “Ooh, now I know!! You’re Dalek! That’s why you would have a hard time seeing from under the costume.”

“No,” Leo shook his head, “But now that you say that, that would’ve been cool! Why didn’t you give me that idea earlier?”

“Because you already had an awesome idea? Or that’s at least the impression I got,” Calypso reminded him.

“Well, yeah. I still like my current idea. Maybe next time I’ll make a Dalek.” Leo had a goofy smile on his face as he imagined building a Dalek costume from the scratch.

“Sounds like a plan. So, will you reveal to me what you will be this time?” Calypso asked.

“Nah, you’ll see soon. Good things are worth waiting for, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Calypso shrugged. “Although our opinions on what’s good tend to differ a bit based on our previous TV watching experiences.”

“Yeah, but that’s why it’s good we are flatmates. It’s good to broaden your horizons sometimes and learn about different things that other people like,” Leo pointed out.

“Maybe you’re right,” Calypso admitted. “But are you saying you have learned something from me? What could that be?”

“That olives taste bad? That sometimes Venusaur can be more useful than Charizard?”

“Not exactly what I was looking for, but I’ll take that.” Leo turned his head just enough to see a small smirk on Calypso’s face.

“I was just messing with you because I think you secretly like it,” Leo said with a grin. “But really, you have taught me a lot. That we shouldn’t let fears control the direction of our life. That Greek mythology is actually pretty fascinating even if tía Callida made it sound boring as hell, and we should all learn to understand different cultures better. And, you know? There’s no way we can know every single thing about someone else so we just need to learn to trust and give them a benefit of the doubt sometimes. And finally, I shouldn’t underestimate your Mario Kart skills.”

Calypso snorted at the last part. “Sometimes you do surprise me, Repair Boy. That was a good answer.”

“I can feel my reputation as the Bad Boy Supreme getting shattered to pieces. What about me, though? Have I taught you something?” Leo asked. If he was honest to himself, he didn’t want to know because what could he possibly teach to a smart girl like her?

“You taught me that chilis are evil and you should never eat them the way I did,” Calypso replied, and Leo was fully prepared for more teasing. But it never came.

“You have also shown me sometimes persistency can be a very good thing – otherwise we probably wouldn’t be friends now. We also shouldn’t judge a book by the cover – I’m just saying that when I first saw you I was kind of prejudiced… but since learning to know you better I realized I was wrong. And remember that time when Jo and Georgina were visiting us and you came home a bit late? Jo told me some stories about you before you arrived and that made me understand how far hard work can sometimes take us. You’ve come a long way… and while there are always things we can work on and improve, I think it’s important to be proud of the things we have already achieved, even when looking ahead.”

“Wow… those are some really nice things you just said there…” Leo stumbled to find the right words. Especially the last point had hit him hard because he had had a very hard time with his self esteem recently. He still didn’t know if he would be allowed to retake his lab test – and more importantly, if he was even capable of trying. That was just the tip of the iceberg; it definitely wouldn’t be the only time he would have to face his fear during his studies and later on in the work life, and he would eventually have to make the difficult decision whether it was worth going through. He did want to get over his fear, but with her own issues on her mind, he hadn’t wanted to ask her to help until the situation was better.

“Hey,” Calypso squeezed his knee gently and Leo was afraid he’d accidentally brake so fast they’d crash somewhere. Thankfully he managed to contain himself. “I know I nag and tease you sometimes, but I hope you know despite that I actually care about you and respect you for the things you do. I’m… glad you’re my flatmate.”

Leo was very thankful that it was dark in the car because he was positive that he was redder than a chili pepper. After swallowing hard, he managed to croak: “Yeah. Thanks. You’re pretty neat too.”  
“Pretty neat?” Calypso asked, cocking her eyebrow.

“Argh, sorry, you can’t expect a guy to be able to think straight after you tell them something like that!” Leo exclaimed. “But, uh, I mean, I think the same way. That it’s nice that you’re my flatmate.”

“Glad we have that established.” Calypso smiled at him. Again Leo wondered what it was about that smile that made his heart go crazy. He had had a couple of short term girlfriends before Calypso had moved in and even though he had liked them, there was something different about how Calypso made him feel. But now that Leo thought about it, he realized that for example Khione, his first girlfriend (who had turned out to be quite an ice queen in the end) had had a smile that had never quite reached her eyes and made him wonder what was truly going on in that head of hers. His second girlfriend, Echo, had been a sweet girl but something about her smile had said that she’d rather be free of relationship bonds. Leo thought that he had probably sensed that from pretty early on because it had been a smaller shock for him than his first break up. But Calypso’s smile? It made Leo want to see it over and over again, and instead of wanting something from him, it seemed to give him more energy. It made him feel restless, but in a positive way.

When Leo snapped out of his thoughts, he realized that Calypso was staring at him weirdly, as if he had been in his daze for a while.

“What?” he asked a bit nervously.

“You just completely missed my question,” Calypso stated, frowning a little.

Leo tried to shake his head to clear his mind a bit. “Sorry, I was just… remembering something. But what did you ask?”

“I asked if there’s any news from your professors about your studies. It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about that.”

Leo gulped. “Yeah. Right. Um, at the moment I’m continuing to attend the classes except the lab one. I guess I should ask the lab professor if he would still let me redo the test at some point. But the other problem is, I’m not sure if I can. You know, if I have it in me to get over my stupid fear.”

“It is not a stupid fear, Leo. You have your reasons. But I do believe that you can get over it. And I want to help you. We should start working on it soon, how about tomorrow or some time next week?”

“Tomorrow is fine to me.” Leo started tapping his fingers against the wheel, a sign of him feeling anxious about the topic. “I… really appreciate your help. Is there something I can do in return?”

“You already did!” Calypso said to his surprise.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Remember that flower shop you mentioned to me?” Calypso asked. “I guess I’ve been so busy this week that I forgot to mention this but it looks like I’m getting the job! The interview went well and the boss invited me to see how they make their flower arrangements and they even let me do this.” Calypso showed him her flower bracelet that had some small roses and several other flowers the names of which he didn’t know. “She will make her final decision on Monday but I might start working there already next week.”

“That’s awesome news! Congrats!” Leo said, genuinely happy for her.

“Thank you! And sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, it seems we have both been rather busy this week, I feel I’ve barely seen you…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I was useful for something! But look, that’s Jason and Piper’s place.” He nodded towards the building in front of them.

Leo looked from the corner of his eyes how Calypso would react to seeing the house. From what he knew Calypso hadn’t been there earlier; she and Piper had hung out more at their flat due to the closeness of the university. He wasn’t disappointed when he saw Calypso’s mouth open a bit.

“I know, pretty impressive.” Leo said.

“I have seen big houses before but this looks way nicer than the ones I know…” Calypso noted. Leo wanted to ask more about that but he knew that the friends were waiting so he decided to leave it for later. Once he had parked the car, some strange instinct told him to rest his hand on hers for a moment before he gestured to Calypso to step outside.

“After you.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween chapter, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, an update! I think some of you are gonna be happy about the characters that are being introduced in this chapter... Also lots of Caleo dorkiness (and canon references...) in it! And you'll get to see if you were right with your costume guesses :D
> 
> Also like I already mentioned last week, this is the last chapter that I have written so far (when I started posting this fic I tried to make sure I'd have at least 7 chapters ready so I wouldn't have to stress about deadlines... and here we are now) so it is possible that updates may slow down a bit, at least if the chapter wants to become long. But I am still /trying/ to keep up with the regular updates the best I can :) So worry not!
> 
> Now, enjoy and let me know what you think!!

“Hi, you guys!” Piper, who was dressed as Wonder Woman, greeted Leo and Calypso first when they arrived, gesturing for them to come in.

“Hello! I was afraid Argo II had decided to stop working because you guys are late,” Jason the Superman noted as he offered to take Calypso’s coat and put it in a hanger by the door.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Jason, that possibility did cross my mind as well,” Calypso said, casting Leo a meaningful look. “But no, not this time.”

“We’re only 10 minutes late!” Leo protested, checking the time from his phone. “I was busy finishing something… and Calypso took her time preparing herself as well. She probably did her wig for like two hours.” He gave her a not so serious side-eye.

“I did not!” Calypso said defensively. “Yeah, I straightened and combed and braided it but that took me maybe 15-20 minutes so he is highly exaggerating.”

“Don’t worry, Calypso, we know he does that a lot.” Piper smiled at her reassuringly. “Speaking of your wig, though, you look very cute! That hair reminds me of the style you had before my makeover. You’re dressed as the mythology Calypso, right?”

“Yes, I am,” Calypso said, pleased that Piper had figured that out so fast. “I thought it would be fun to be a bit self ironic for once. I haven’t really had a good reason to sew recently so this was a nice excuse to do that as well.” She made a small twirl to show the dress better. 

“That dress really looks great!” Piper told her. “I would gladly commission you to sew me clothes; it’s so hard to find anything nice from the clothes stores these days. But Leo.” She turned back to him. “I see someone hasn’t bothered to get a costume. I wasn’t expecting that from you because you’re always so excited about them.”

“No, you got it all wrong.” Leo wagged his finger at her. “I do have it here, but as I told Cal, it would have been too difficult to wear in the car.” He dropped his bag on the floor, causing a loud thud as it hit the ground.

“Alright. Care to give us any hint what it is?” Piper asked curiously. “Seems heavy.” Calypso wondered if this was something they did every year.

“I’m just saying that it’s inspired by some movies that united us three,” Leo noted mysteriously. “But that’s all, you’ll see soon!”

“My mind is blank now,” Piper said. “Jason, what movies have we watched with him?”

“The first one that comes to my mind is Star Wars,” Jason reminded her. Suddenly both Jason and Piper’s eyes widened in realization. “Could it be?”

“Oh no, Leo you didn’t!” Piper doubled over in laughter when it occurred to her what Leo’s costume most likely was. “I can’t wait to see this!”

“I hope you took pictures with Festus!” Jason couldn’t keep his poker face either, and Calypso watched their reactions with confusion. 

“Don’t worry, I will show them later.” Leo grinned, unperplexed by Jason and Piper’s laughter. “Now, where can I change?”

Piper showed him an empty room where he could get into his costume in peace, while Calypso started looking around the house on her own. Even though the place seemed rather fancy, Jason and Piper had managed to make it cozier with their personal objects. A lot of them had seen life and were worn but somehow they still fit in with the newer decorations. 

As Calypso reached the living room, her focus went to the guests who had already arrived at the party. She waved at Annabeth and nodded awkwardly to Percy. Even though she and Annabeth were friends again, she wasn’t quite sure how she should act near Percy so ‘reserved’ felt the most natural reaction. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, though, when she registered their costumes: Annabeth had a Chiton just like her, although grey instead of white, with some silvery accessories and a beautiful owl shaped brooch over her chest. Perhaps the most impressive part of her costume was the Greek styled helmet that was used in battles and that hid most of Annabeth’s curly ponytail. Calypso was quite certain she was dressed as Athena, the Greek goddess that according to her was the one she identified herself the most with. Percy on the other hand was wearing sandals, shorts, a tropical shirt, and a belt with fishing equipment and he was holding a fishing rod in his hand. Calypso couldn’t quite figure out who he was supposed to be, other than some sort of fisherman.

“Hi,” Calypso greeted them as she got to hearing distance with them. “You guys look nice. You’re Athena, right?” She asked Annabeth. “Matches my theme, don’t you think?”

“Sure does,” Annabeth nodded, eyeing Calypso’s costume. “You look pretty much exactly like how I imagine the mythology Calypso.”

“Thank you. Coming from you it’s a big compliment.” She turned Percy. “I can’t figure out who you are, though. You don’t seem like a Greek god?”

“I am, though,” Percy replied. “I’m Poseidon.”

“Ooh, so that’s why the fishing gear!” Calypso realized. “But I don’t think the Greeks had tropical shirts quite yet.”

“No, you’re right in that.” Percy shook his head, smiling a bit. “But I’m basing this on the version in the Peter Johnson series. That’s how he was described in it.”

“I didn’t know you have read that too,” Calypso said, “But makes sense. Um, the Poseidon and Athena of the mythology hated each other, though. Not that it’s really my business, but I hope you two are doing fine…?” She asked a bit nervously, not wanting to be the reason for their issues.

“Oh yeah, we are,” Percy confirmed immediately. “It’s just an old joke – back when Annabeth and I were reading the Peter Johnson books I used to say Poseidon is my godly parent and Athena Annabeth’s, and that just kind of stuck with us.”

“Alright.” Calypso accepted Percy’s answer, turning her attention back to Annabeth. “By the way, where did you get that helmet? It definitely looks fancier than most of the plastic ones you see at costume shops.”

“My father collects these things,” Annabeth answered, lifting the helmet from her head for a moment. “I’ve told you he’s also a historian, right? Well, one of his friends wanted to make a replica of the ancient Greek helmets with some modern machines and dad bought this from him. I’m not saying this is 100 per cent accurate but it looks pretty cool, in my opinion.”

“It does,” Calypso confirmed.

“You came with Leo, right?” Percy asked then, to which Calypso nodded. “Where is he? I can’t wait to see his costume; he usually goes for something that is way over the top. Last year he was Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon and he had made a Toothless costume for his dog. I’ve also seen pics of him as Iron Man. Yes, with a full iron costume.”

“I can believe that of him,” Calypso chuckled, imagining Leo in the said costume. “He just went to change into his costume because apparently he couldn’t drive in it. He didn’t reveal what he was going to be, but it does sound like something extravagant.”

“I missed his costume last year but I’ll be sure to have a camera ready when he shows up this time,” Annabeth said happily. Calypso was relieved that the conversation was going this well; she hadn’t known what to expect beforehand because this was the first time she was in the same room with Percy since the ‘incident’. Talking with him now, though, made her realize that holding a grudge wouldn’t be smart and he seemed to think the same way.

“I just realized,” Calypso decided to change the topic, “that I’ve never heard the story of how you guys know Jason and Piper. So how did that happen?”

“It’s a funny story,” Percy started, smiling at the memory. “Jason and I used to be the captains of rivaling soccer teams when we were around 16. Well, one time Jason’s team was visiting us but we were playing in an arena that had just been renovated so I hadn’t been there before. I may have been a bit late from our team meeting and I was a bit lost so I decided to ask one staff lady where I was supposed to go. Somehow she got our teams mixed up and I ended up in the locker room of Jason’s team. Some of Jason’s teammates said that my expression was worth seeing when I realized the mistake but I dunno about that. The funny thing was that somehow the same thing had happened to Jason; he had also been late for the meeting because of traffic or something and he had gotten into my team’s locker room. Well, after the game we had a good laugh about it together and ended up talking about other stuff as well and noticed we have a lot in common. That’s how we became friends. When we moved into the same town, we started training together at least a few times a week.”

“Piper and I didn’t learn to know each other until Jason and she started dating a couple of years ago and they invited Percy to some party where I went with him. To be honest, I was a bit suspicious about her at first because we seemed very different but eventually we learned to respect each other’s qualities. And here we are,” Annabeth added.

“Those are some cool stories,” Calypso said. “It seems like a funny coincidence that somehow we all ended up in this city even though most of us are from somewhere else. Like Leo is from Texas, I am from Greece…”  
“Speaking of him,” Annabeth had to muffle his laughter with her hand, “I believe we are finally getting some answers about his costume.”

“Oh… my gods” was all Calypso could say when she turned to the direction Annabeth was looking at. “You’re really something else.”

Leo was completely hidden inside his costume, but Calypso could practically hear him grinning at their reactions. The costume looked very much like in the movies; golden (just painted, not real gold, because there was no way Leo could afford something like that) plating forming a droid with big round eyes and an ability to speak lots and lots of different languages: C-3PO from Star Wars.

“Holy shit, dude, that looks so real.” Percy gaped at Leo. “I’m starting to understand why you spent so much time in your room the past few weeks.”

“Why C-3PO, though?” Calypso asked once she managed to put her poker face back on. “Does that have some story behind it?”

“Because, duh, it looks cool!” Leo exclaimed with a mechanical voice from inside his costume. “I dunno, ever since I first saw C-3PO as a kid I thought it would be cool to be able to build something like that. And hey, his ability to translate like all the possible languages is pretty neat. Me? I just know 3.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable in there, though?” Calypso asked. “That thing must be heavy.”

“Sunshine, I’m always uncomfortable. But this was a childhood dream of mine so I sure as heck am not backing off now,” Leo said with determination.

“A stubborn one, aren’t you?” Calypso stated. “Even I have to admit, though, that you have certainly done some thorough job with it. Hey, I should take photos before I forget! You don’t get to see this every day.”

The others dug their phones up as well and for a while Leo just made silly poses while they took pictures, clearly enjoying the attention his costume got. Eventually he started demanding that Calypso should join him for the photos but she was a bit hesitant at first. 

Leo argued: “Come on. Greek mythology meets Star Wars? You don’t see a crossover like that every day.”

“Can’t argue with that, I suppose,” Calypso said and went next to him. “Well, do we have some kind of story for Calypso and C-3PO’s meeting?” she asked as Percy and Annabeth waved at them to look at the camera. 

Leo considered her question for a moment. “Oh, how about this? C-3PO somehow ends up on Calypso’s island - because duh, Calypso is cursed so she can’t leave the island…”

“You seem to know surprisingly much about Greek mythology, just saying…” Calypso noted while trying to smile for the photos, resting her hand on the metallic shoulder.

“I told ya, Sunshine, you can blame tía Callida for that…” Leo reminded her. “Anyway, I imagine those two don’t really like each other at first because they’re so different but eventually they learn to respect each other’s skills; C-3PO can translate basically any language and Calypso is good at all kinds of handiworks, which is hard for a droid.”

“And? What happens after that?” Calypso asked curiously.

Leo considered it for a moment. “C-3PO doesn’t really wanna leave Calypso’s island but he has galaxies to save with his friend R2-D2 so he has to go but he promises to come get her afterwards.”

“Aw, Leo, that is kind of sweet,” Calypso commented, suddenly aware of the metal arm that had snuck around her waist. “Does he… does he ever return, though? Shouldn’t that be impossible?”

“For a human, maybe, but he’s a droid,” Leo noted. “Unfortunately during a big battle he blows up badly but the ever so faithful R2-D2 collects the pieces and finds someone who can rebuild him again. And boom, he makes it back and lives happily ever after with his goddess.”

“What’s the term you use when you enjoy a fictional relationship a lot?” Calypso asked. “Shipping?” Annabeth nodded at her. “I don’t know, Leo, to me it sounds like you ship those two. Isn’t that a bit weird?”  
“What, why would that be weird? I’ve seen people ship…”

“I see these two have gotten into a full on nerd mode again,” Annabeth said quietly to Percy while they were waiting for the flatmates to stop their bickering so they’d be able to take the photos. “Not projecting themselves into their characters, right?”

“No, definitely not,” Percy agreed.

Eventually Leo and Calypso stopped bickering and Annabeth was able to take the pictures. Even if Leo was mostly hidden by his costume, Calypso felt a bit self conscious about the fact that these were the first photos of them together. They did a few goofy poses because Annabeth and Percy told them to, but Calypso thought she probably looked more embarrassed than funny in them.

Once they were done, Leo went to Annabeth who was going through the photos and bowed his head a bit to see them better. “Hey, these do look pretty cool! It’s probably just the lighting but here you look like you’re blushing to some funny comment C-3PO made.”

“Show me!” Calypso yelped nervously and took the phone from Annabeth. When she saw it, she could immediately tell Leo was not wrong; she really was blushing. “Yeah, it’s definitely those candles in the background that do it… And I think it’s pretty warm in here, maybe all the people here heat this room…”

“OK, if you say so,” Leo said but Calypso imagined that he was looking at her suspiciously through his costume. 

Trying to get the others’ attention to something else, she said: “So, who else has arrived so far?”

“Nico and Will. I think they went to get some snacks from the dining room,” Piper, who had just entered the room, answered.

“Leo told me that Nico is Jason’s relative, but what about Will?” Calypso asked her.

“Will is Nico’s boyfriend. This is the first time we’re meeting him but they seem very good together. At least he seems to have a grounding effect on Nico, and he actually listens to him, unlike most of us. Um, sorry, it’s a long story, one that I should probably save for another time. Nico may be a bit hard to approach sometimes but he is a very nice guy when you learn to know him. Just… been through a lot. I guess like many of us here. But he seems way happier now,” Piper said, and as if on cue, they could hear some distant laughter coming from the dining room.

“We should start a traumatized college kids’ club,” Leo attempted to joke, and the others hummed in agreement. Maybe she did belong to this group after all, Calypso thought. If only they knew, though…

“This just got cheerful,” Percy said, interrupting Calypso’s thought process. “Who’s up for blue candies? Get them before Will and Nico eat them all.”

“I heard that, Jackson!” Nico entered the room without a warning. “No offense to you or your mom but blue candies aren’t exactly my thing.”

“Hi, Nico,” Percy greeted him, seeming a bit flustered after Nico’s comment. “You haven’t met Calypso, right?” He pointed at her.

“No, I haven’t,” Nico took a quick look at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Alright, in that case, this is Calypso Astal. And Calypso, this is Nico di Angelo,” Percy introduced them to each other.

“Nice to meet you,” Calypso approached him, but he seemed to evaluate her for a moment before he took her hand.

“Likewise,” Nico said finally. “I think Jason has mentioned you a few times.”

“Oh. That’s nice,” Calypso said a bit unsurely, like every time she met a new person. The lonely years still had a toll on her, and even though she liked spending time with her friends, meeting new people was always a bit nerve wracking to her. “You’re his relative, right?”

“A distant cousin,” Nico answered. “Yeah, our fathers are related, but I have my mother’s last name and Jason has his.”

“I take it your mother has roots elsewhere, based on the last name?” Calypso asked.

“She was Italian,” Nico shrugged. “I lived there my first years too. But now I can barely remember those times.”

Calypso noticed the use of past tense, but she thought it was probably better to not ask about that in the middle of a party. “Oh. I’ve been to Italy a few times. I’m originally from Greece.”

“What brought you here, then?” Nico asked.

“Dad’s work,” Calypso responded in a tone that told everyone she wouldn’t elaborate on that topic more. It seemed to have become a habit to her.

“Anyway,” Leo, who had managed to stay quiet for a surprisingly long amount of time in Calypso’s opinion, stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Nico, a little bird told me,” he looked at Jason, “that your boyfriend is a Star Wars geek. Is that true?”

Nico took one look at Leo’s costume and his mouth twitched when he realized why Leo was asking. “He is, but don’t let him get started on it, or else he will never stop. Besides, he’s not my boyfriend, I prefer calling him…”

“A significant nuisance?” Will showed up from the dining room, carrying a plate full of food. “Don’t mind him, he just warms up a bit slow.”

“Yes, this is Will,” Nico sighed, addressing those who hadn’t met them before. “Sometimes he’s a nuisance, sometimes he can be quite OK. When he’s having a good day.”

“Same back at you, dear,” Will laughed. “Did I hear someone mention Star Wars, though?”

“You did,” Leo said, stepping forward so Will could see his costume better. Needless to say, Will looked beyond thrilled.

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Nico said quietly before Will even had time to comment on the costume.

“Woah, that must be the best C-3PO costume I’ve seen. And yeah, I’ve seen a few so I don’t compliment you for nothing,” Will assured.

“Thanks, man, I did spend quite a while with it,” Leo said, high fiving Will. “Glad someone here appreciates good things.”

“I still hope you’re not one of those fans who have only seen the most recent movies and not the originals,” Will noted.

“Heck, no!” Leo exclaimed immediately. “The original three for the win! Mom and I used to watch them a lot… um, when I was little. She was a big fan. But the newer ones just don’t feel the same.” Calypso had a feeling Leo had almost said something else, but he had changed his phrasing at the last moment.

“You have a pretty good taste,” Will said approvingly. Then he finally realized he hadn’t even asked Leo and Calypso’s names before getting into the geek mode.

“So, who are you two? I already met Percy and Annabeth earlier but I don’t think I know you guys yet.”

“I’m Leo Valdez, and this is my, um, flatmate, Calypso Astal,” Leo introduced. Calypso hoped there was a better word to describe their relationship than a ‘flatmate’ but at the moment it was probably the best and the safest option there was.

“Flatmates, huh?” Will repeated. “How did that happen?”

“I was in a hurry to find a roof over my head so I put in the application that I also accept mixed flats,” Calypso replied. “I didn’t meet Leo beforehand because, um, that would have been a bit difficult to arrange in this case, but it worked out OK.” Calypso noticed Leo was looking at her from the corner of his eye, and she realized she had never even talked about that option before. The truth was that she had had to plan her leaving very thoroughly so her father wouldn’t notice and she had driven to Indianapolis as fast as possible, with no time for second guessing.

“And my flat happened to have a room free because our boy Jason decided to move in with Beauty Queen,” Leo added to that story. “It’s really no stranger than that.”

“Oh, right, someone must have mentioned that you and Jason used to be flatmates,” Will recalled. “I just didn’t connect the dots.”

Jason had apparently finished welcoming the rest of the guests because he joined the group in the living room. “That reminds me, I don’t think I’ve asked you, Calypso, if Leo still leaves his dishes undone and if he has empty milk cartons in the fridge.”

“He used to do that?” Calypso asked with amusement. “After seeing his room that’s not so hard to picture, but no, he’s been pretty tidy in the common area. Although one time he bribed me to do his dishes for him in exchange for some of his food.”

“It was a good deal!” Leo protested. “You didn’t have to cook and you also got to taste some Valdez’ sizzling hot quesadillas so I’d say it was a win-win. Besides, you didn’t seem to have anything against that.”

“Alright, I will admit the quesadillas were pretty good,” Calypso conceded. “But a true gentleman offers them without even asking. Well, other than that he’s been OK,” she told Jason with a playful twinkle in her eye.

“I guess he really is able to change his habits, then,” he replied. “At least when the flatmate is someone he...”

Before Jason had time to finish his sentence, Leo intervened: “Folks, do we really have to be talking about my cleaning habits in front of people I don’t know? The first impressions are important, especially when it comes to Supersized McShizzle!”

“We’re just being honest, Repair Boy.” Calypso couldn’t resist booping his metal covered nose. Apparently she just didn’t know how to not cross the line with this boy, she sighed in her mind.

“Is that all? Where’s the feisty Sunshine I know?,” Leo said in a low tone, so the others could barely hear his comment, coming out almost flirty.

“Shut up,” Calypso answered equally quietly but held her gaze at him.

“Ahem,” they suddenly heard Piper’s voice behind them. “In case you’ve stopped with the flirting, I’d like you to meet a couple of people.” 

Calypso turned to see the newcomers and as she recognized the Hunter badges both of them had attached to their shirts, something in her mind just suddenly turned off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger. Not.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait again! This chapter wanted to become /long/ (for my chapter) so I just couldn't finish it in time. About the future schedule, there won't be another chapter this week but given it's only Tuesday now, I think I may be able to update again Friday next week. Fingers crossed! 
> 
> Thanks for all the comments again, you guys make me so motivated to continue! ♥ But I won't rant more, now I'll let you know what happens after the cliffhanger of ch 24.

Calypso woke up with her head banging in pain and a sour taste in her mouth. She also felt like throwing up. What was even worse than that, though, was that she had no idea where she was. She was still wearing a flowy, white dress instead of her pajamas and she didn’t recognize the bed she had slept in. Perhaps the strangest part was that she could hear light snoring from the floor behind the foot of the bed. She sat up on the bed so she could see who caused the sound, panic starting to surge in her veins when she recognized the dark mop of hair under a blanket.

It was Leo, sleeping on a mattress that had been taken from the other side of the double bed she had been sleeping in. What on earth had possessed him to sleep there, Calypso wondered worriedly.   
Pulling a cover over her (which, she knew, was silly because obviously Leo had already seen her in her dress earlier) she continued scanning her surroundings and slowly started making some conclusions. This had to be Jason and Piper’s house, where they had stayed the night after the Halloween party. A party. Right. Her last clear thoughts were from the moment when she had seen the two Hunter girls arrive at the party. After that, she remembered vaguely fleeing the room and finding something to drink, and that’s when her memory got really blurry. And that was the truly scary part. She hadn’t been truly drunk even once within the past five years but she did know way too well what had happened the previous time she had done that. The biggest mistake of her life.

Before she allowed her mind to draw any more conclusions, she decided to rise from her bed and check up on Leo. He was still sound asleep and since the blanket had partially fallen off of him, she could see that he was wearing a tank top and boxers, which she took as a good sign. Since they both were at least somewhat clothed, she thought it was quite unlikely that they had crossed the line that she was not ready to cross. But that didn’t mean that nothing had happened.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat while wrapping the bed cover around her a bit better, trying to make Leo wake up. She needed to do that at least twice more before he finally stirred.

“Wha… Woah!” He yelped with surprise when he realized where he was and with whom, quickly pulling his blanket over his mostly bare legs. “Morning, Sunshine. How are you feeling today?”

The panic had momentarily made Calypso forget about her headache and dizziness but now that Leo reminded her of it, she realized they hadn’t disappeared anywhere. Sitting back on her bed, she sighed.

“I’ve been better, that’s for sure.” She rubbed her forehead for a moment. “The worst part is that I have no idea what happened last night.”

“You… don’t remember any of it?” Leo asked while sitting up, and Calypso thought she could hear a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“I do remember what happened before my first drink,” Calypso clarified. “But not much after that.”

“In that case, I think I can help you fill some gaps,” Leo replied. “If you want to.”

“That would be good.” Calypso tried to undo some knots in her hair with her fingers, sighing with frustration. “Maybe you can start with explaining why we are both here. I mean, in this room. I think Piper and Jason have several extra rooms in their house.”

Leo’s face turned bright red at the implications of Calypso’s question. He had to clear his throat before he managed to answer. “Um… You were really not feeling well last night… And to be honest, some moments you seemed pretty desperate to… I don’t know, it seemed like you were trying to escape from Thalia and Reyna every time they tried to talk to you. So, um, we, as in, me, Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Percy thought that someone should probably keep an eye on you. Just in case. So. I volunteered.”

Calypso wanted to keep Leo distracted so he wouldn’t ask more about Thalia and Reyna so she asked: “But why you, and not for example Piper? She lives here so it would have been easier for her. You could have just driven home and come to pick me up today or something.”

“That’s… that’s true but I felt it was my duty… as your flatmate, of course… to make sure you’re OK,” Leo stuttered. Calypso had a feeling it wasn’t the whole truth but she didn’t push it.  
“Alright,” Calypso said. “But why were you sleeping in this room? Like I said earlier, there are other places…”

“Ahem,” Leo made a coughing sound again. “That’s because you asked me to stay here. And I’m not lying about that. You can think anything you want about me but I would not do anything without your consent… um, not that any of that has even crossed my mind, gods.”

Even though Calypso was relieved to hear that because it proved that nothing had happened between them, she had to admit to herself that perhaps a tiny part of her was a bit disappointed. Leo’s reply made it sound like he did not have any romantic feelings towards her. Or then he was a liar. Either way, Calypso wasn’t sure what she should think.

“I… asked you to stay with me?” she repeated instead.

“Um, yeah,” Leo replied, his fingers tapping on his blanket absentmindedly. “You said something about nightmares… and I dunno, you just didn’t wanna be alone. Piper asked if you’d like her to stay but… you picked me? I don’t know why.”

There was a long pause before Calypso answered. Maybe it was her dizzy head making her make decisions she usually wouldn’t, but she thought there was no reason to deny it anymore. Feeling the warmth on her cheeks, she finally replied: “That’s because – I hate myself for this, but - you… you mean more to me than her.”

“I… what?” Leo frowned, looking like he was wondering if he had heard right.

Calypso sighed deeply and hid her face into her hands. She hated how fast her heart was racing in that moment. “I’ve been trying to deny that for several weeks now, but… I guess the drunk me was more honest than what I usually am.”

Leo crossed his arms, inching closer to Calypso on his mattress so he could look at her directly. “But… but… what does it mean? I mean, I do have an idea because I’m not an idiot even if I seem like one – but I need to hear it from you.”

“Leo Valdez, it means I like you! In a very non flatmate like way! There, are you happy now?” Calypso’s voice started cracking and she felt like she was on the verge of tears.

“Of course I am!” He exclaimed, almost jumping up from his mattress. “I think I’ve had a crush on you ever since you got mad at me for smashing your table!”

Calypso’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… have? But… how?”

“When you got mad at me that time, I saw some fire in your eyes. Like, OK, I’m gonna admit that you looked hot from moment one but I didn’t care about that. I didn’t,” he repeated when Calypso looked at him skeptically. “I know a lot of girls who kinda remind me of you with their shiny long hair, perfect eyelashes, et cetera, but many of them are the type of people who used to laugh at me at high school. And I mean, not in a good way. But when I saw that fire, somehow I was convinced that you were different. You have just the kind of spunk that I like and you’re not afraid to call me out when I deserve it – but you’re still fair and don’t judge the book by its cover. Fine, of course I was worried I was wrong and you wouldn’t forgive me for that mistake. But, somehow, this one time, I was right. And I only got more convinced as I learned to know you better.”

“Leo…” Calypso was starting to lose the fight against the tears.

Leo looked extremely worried when he realized she was crying. “What? I thought you’d be happy to hear that? I like you – you apparently like me for whatever crazy reason – what’s the problem?”

Calypso tried to brush off the tears from her face before answering, her eyes sparkling with frustration. “The problem is that you just made this – what I should do – a hundred times harder! If… if you hadn’t answered to my feelings, I could have just tried to accept that and eventually moved on. But… how are we going to live with this knowledge, live under the same roof… when nothing can happen?!”

Leo started to freak out. “What do you mean ‘nothing can happen’? Calypso, could you please finally be clear with me? Why did you just confess your feelings and then say… that?”

Calypso didn’t miss that Leo used her full first name, a thing he did quite rarely. Her voice was still a bit hoarse when she answered:

“Alright. I have plenty of reasons but here’s the first one: In the past… I’ve had nothing but unsuccessful relationships. I may have been really young back then, but it made me doubt myself, Leo. Several guys I really liked - and I imagined they liked me back - told me some big words… only to run to their ‘real’ girlfriends at the first possible opportunity. You’d probably say ‘but that was many years ago, screw those guys’!”

“Damn right, I would!” Leo exclaimed, slamming his fist on the floor next to him to emphasize his point.

“… And I wish it was that simple but it isn’t.” Calypso shook her head. “There’s more to that story than I care to explain right now. And then I met Percy a couple of years later and thought that maybe I’d be ready to try again. Well, you know what happened. It did not work out and I decided that when I’d finally have my freedom… I mean, when I’d move out and start my studies, I would make sure that I really am ready for a relationship before starting one. And I’m sorry, but… I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I want to learn to love myself before… you know.”

Leo finally stood up from his mattress and sat down next to her on the bed, not even caring about the fact that he was still wearing only a thin tank top and boxers anymore.

“I guess I can understand that,” he said, spontaneously taking her hand into his as a comforting gesture. “I’m no stranger to self doubt.”

“Then I guess we have that in common…” Calypso sighed, allowing Leo’s hands to remain on hers. “However… that’s not the only reason why I think it would not be a good idea.”

“What else is there?” Leo asked.

Calypso looked down at their intertwined hands sadly. “Well… I think I’ve told you my father is not the nicest of guys… But the truth is, I left home without his consent or knowledge. So, he’s probably looking for me right now. And if he does find me, I don’t know what will happen. I may have to go back. And I definitely don’t want him to find out about you. He has money and a lot of power and he’s capable of ruining anyone’s life if he wants to. He’d probably blame you for hiding me and have you arrested or something… It would break me if something happened to any of you, because of me.”

“Why… Why haven’t you told this to me before?” Leo’s grip on her hand tightened slightly and even though Calypso didn’t dare to look into his eyes, she imagined that they were burning in anger like she had seen a couple of times before.

Calypso rubbed her forehead tiredly with her free hand. “Because… what would you do in that situation?! I’d arrive at your home and introduce myself: ‘hey, I’m Calypso, your new flatmate, and by the way, I’m running away from my father who may or may not have kept me as a hostage for several years, but yeah, nice to meet you!’”

“A hostage?” Leo was practically growling now.

“Well… “ Calypso was suddenly hesitant, realizing she had revealed more than intended. “I was allowed to go to places… sometimes… but never alone… And I was homeschooled so… I did spend a lot of time at home… but we had a huge mansion… So it wasn’t like I was trapped in a basement or something…”

“But that doesn’t make it any more right!” Leo was almost yelling now. “I want to do something, I want to let people know what kind of person he is so he can’t keep doing that to you or anyone else anymore!”

“Leo, you can’t!” Calypso squeezed his hand, finally looking up at him. “Do you know how dangerous that would be?! And I swear, with his money he would only make the police go quiet about the whole situation… The main thing is that I’m here, right now, and relatively safe. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he doesn’t care where I am. I don’t know what he’s thinking, to be honest.”

Leo was quiet for a while, breathing heavily and fiddling with the bed covers. “Well… Fine, I’ll let that be, for now. But I swear to gods, or the River Styx, or whatever the hell those ancient Greeks used to swear on, that if he does something to you, I will not let it be anymore. I… and I think I can speak for all of our friends, that we all… will make sure that he will go down with a bang.”

Leo’s comment about the ancient Greeks managed to cheer Calypso up a bit. “You sound like you would physically fight him. And how exactly would you do that?” she asked. “With your tools?”

“That’s not a bad idea!” Leo exclaimed, getting into his fantasies. “I would definitely bring my trusty hammer. Or, I could build a…”

“Hey, now, I was not being serious! But you sound like you are,” Calypso stopped him by putting a finger on his lips. “I absolutely don’t want you to do anything where you could get hurt.”

“Me? Getting hurt? That’s unheard of,” Leo attempted to joke once Calypso removed her finger from his lips.

“Alright, now you’re not being serious. Didn’t you once tell me that you joke especially when you’re nervous?” Calypso remembered one of their earlier conversations.

Leo’s smirk disappeared. “Want me to be honest? I’m not great at the feelings stuff. But I just heard you tell me that you like me. For a moment I was like: ‘hey, for once the chick you like likes you back, maybe this could work out’. And then you told me that apparently your father is some kind of psycho who is still controlling you, his adult daughter. I am glad that you told me about all this but you can’t expect me to stay calm when someone I care about is in danger. You wouldn’t stay calm either, would you?”

Calypso shook her head. “No. You’re right. I would also want to help you. And I really am sorry, I wish things were different and we could… Maybe one day. That’s all I can say.”

Leo sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “OK. I get it.”,

A silence fell into the room as they both tried to take in what had just happened. Some automatic reaction made Calypso lean her head against Leo’s shoulder as if she was trying to tell him with the touch that she really was sorry. She was thankful he did not shift away. Eventually, she asked:

“So… tell me more about last night. Did I embarrass myself badly?”

“Naah…” Leo lied at first, a smile returning to his face as he remembered some of the things that had happened.

“You just flinched,” Calypso noted. “I felt it. You’re totally lying.”

“Fine. It was pretty funny when you had a karaoke duet with Piper and were too drunk to be able to read the lyrics from the screen so you came up with the words yourself. And at one point you just suddenly switched to Greek and none of us could understand what you were saying. But it wasn’t that bad. And even drunk your voice was kinda impressive. And your dance moves were definitely better than mine.”

“Wait, what? I danced too? Gods, please tell me no one filmed that,” Calypso asked, horrified.

“I can promise no such thing!” Leo grinned, and Calypso stopped leaning her head against him, instead elbowing him on the ribs. “Ow! I’m just joking! I don’t know if Piper got any photo material of that but I was busy dancing with you so I didn’t have time to film anything. Promise.”

“Alright. Sorry.” She lowered her head on his shoulder again.

“Guess we’ll have to hunt down Piper after this,” Leo said with amusement before recalling something. “Anyway, something kinda weird happened too. Like I said, it really seemed like you were trying to avoid Reyna and Thalia and I have no idea why. Every time they got close, you were like ‘gotta get a drink’ or ‘let’s go dance’ or ‘bathroom break’. I’m not even sure if you greeted them. Can you explain that?”

“I… uh,” Calypso tried to come up with something that she wouldn’t have to tell the whole story. “My half sister Zoë… She used to be a Hunter. But she died some years ago. An accident. I think those two probably knew her and… the wound is still too deep so I didn’t want to have to talk about her. It would have ruined everyone’s night.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo said, causing chills in Calypso’s back by running his thumb on the palm of her hand. “I had no idea... Feels like I’m learning a lot more about you now than I have the past few months…”  
“I probably should have told you about that earlier… So I’m sorry too.” 

Leo bit his lip as if he was struggling to decide something. “If it makes you feel any better… I know how it feels to lose someone important. My mum. She died in a fire. Yeah, the fire that started my fear,” Leo confirmed Calypso’s suspicions. “She was the only family I had and after that I went from home to home and no one wanted to keep me… Sometimes I ran away too… That kept going until Emmie and Jo finally found me. It… doesn’t really get easier, but somehow… you still learn to live with it. Because you have to.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling. But if you have to find something positive out of this situation… at least we’re safe now. And we’re not alone, right? That’s what they’d want for us, right?” Calypso sounded a bit unsure, though.

“Yeah. You’re right.” They stayed quiet for a while, but this time the silence was comforting. Finally, Leo decided to break it, in his typical way.

“No offense, Cal, but you could use a shower. For all of our sake.”

Calypso quickly sat farther from him. “Oh my gods, Leo, that is so not appropriate, especially in a situation like this! What’s wrong with you?”

Leo put his hands up defensively. “Was just trying to be honest! The alcohol and the throwing up did not do good to you.”  
“Geez, I hate you,” Calypso mumbled.

“That’s fine because I hate you too,” Leo claimed.

“Not what you said a moment ago,” Calypso retorted.

“I could say the same back at you.”

Suddenly both Leo and Calypso burst out laughing, needing to release the tension the whole conversation had created. Calypso didn’t remember when she had last laughed that long or hard but she didn’t care, it simply felt right in that moment. When she and Leo finally calmed down, she said quietly:

“Maybe we are idiots, both of us.”

“Maybe. But normalcy is not for me. I learned that a while ago.”

“Same, to be honest.”

Calypso and Leo’s eyes met. Some barriers had been broken that day and even though there was still a lot of work to do, Calypso realized that it had felt good to talk to Leo. He hadn’t judged or questioned, at least not in the way she had expected. He had seemed to accept that she’d come out of her shell with her own terms. Something about it all just felt so right, and when she remembered that he had also admitted he liked her back… she decided it was time to get a bit crazy. Screw the consequences, if they couldn’t enjoy this moment, then what could they enjoy? That’s why she let her hand brush his cheek before resting it in his hair, gently lifting his chin with her other hand so he’d know her intentions…

“Do you think… we could forget about the stupid rules just for a moment?” She asked, resting her forehead on his.

“I think I’m down with that,” Leo smiled at her softly (Calypso didn’t like admitting it but that soft smile never failed to get to her).

They closed their eyes and started leaning even closer, but just when their lips were about to meet, the door opened. The couple quickly separated when Piper peeked in.

“I heard some laughter from here so I thought I’d come to check…” Then she noticed their expressions. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“Didn’t interrupt anything,” Leo mumbled, although it was quite clear from his voice he was disappointed.

“Yeah, no worries,” Calypso tried to reassure her as well, although her eyes seemed to be interested in a wrinkle on her dress.

“OK…” Piper wasn’t at all convinced but she didn’t comment on it more. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that we have breakfast downstairs. Whenever you’re up to it.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute! Just let me… clean up a bit.” Calypso exclaimed, getting up and starting to head to the closest bathroom. Leo also got up from the bed and started pulling on the clothes he had had under his costume the previous day.

“See you soon then,” Piper said, leaving the very flustered couple to get prepared for the day. Calypso could imagine that she and Jason would probably get good laughs from this once she and Leo would leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm so not sorry! I just didn't feel like it was time for /that/ yet :'D Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know in the comments!! (Also, I feel there /may/ still be some stuff to cover about the Halloween stuff so let me know if you'd like to see a Leo pov of what happened after Cal's 'memory loss' and the morning after? Bc I may be up to writing that. Maybe.)
> 
> Oh and I know Reyna and Thalia didn't really get screen time yet, but worry not because I am quite positive they'll get more of it soon enough!


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One step forward, two steps back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a new chapter! I know the style in this one is a bit different from my usual very dialogue centric chapters but I hope you'll still like it! Also a warning since I may also have some younger readers: some mature themes are briefly discussed at one point (only discussed though) just so you know what to expect/can avoid it if you want to. (This fic will still remain T-rated so don't expect to see anything explicit in the future either)
> 
> About the update schedule again: I am gonna say that I /probably/ won't be posting the next chapter until Friday in two weeks because I have some other fic plans as well! I'd love to be able to post the non twlitf thing on Sunday because of reasons but atm I'm not as progressed with the said fic as I'd like to be so I will probably be late with it. But anyway, new stuff coming soon! Stay tuned to find out more.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and remember that I really love reading those comments!!

The couple of weeks following the Halloween party were awkward at Leo and Calypso’s household. Lucky for them, they were so busy with the final exams and work that they didn’t have to face each other a lot. During the weekdays they mostly saw each other in the mornings before leaving for university, and late in the evening when Calypso came home from her work. She had started at the flower shop the week after the party and she quite enjoyed it. Even though she wasn’t yet allowed to do the more complicated tasks, the boss, who called herself Demi, had noticed that she did have an eye for pretty things. She had for example allowed Calypso to change the displays in the shop a bit and had complimented her work afterwards. The shop was fairly quiet during that time of the year, but Calypso expected it to get busier once the holidays got closer. 

Calypso was relieved to have her hands full of work because that way she had less time to think about the morning after Halloween and what the confessions made that day meant. Leo had seemed convinced they shouldn’t let it bother them and just keep living the way they had before Halloween, but Calypso didn’t think it was that simple. Even though he tried to keep up a casual conversation whenever they were in the same room, Calypso felt the attempts were half-hearted. She could see from his eyes that he actually wanted to say much more, perhaps something like: ‘this is stupid, we shouldn’t let some silly things stop us from doing what we want’. They rarely had movie or TV show nights anymore nor did they do household chores together as often as they used to. Even the ‘therapy sessions’ that Calypso had promised remained quite short and awkward, not helping Leo to progress with beating his fear. Instead, Calypso felt the tension between them kept growing whenever they were in the same room. It could be seen in a lot of small things.

First off, Calypso had noticed Leo was looking at her differently than before. Earlier, he hadn’t really held eye contact for too long, his gaze starting to wander around the room trying to find other things to focus on after a few short moments. Now, he didn’t shy away anymore. Instead, he looked at her almost challengingly, like ‘I know what you really think and you know what I think and there’s nothing you can’t do about it. So just accept it’. Calypso had had a soft spot for the fierce brown eyes for a while now, but now she was afraid they’d really convince her to do something she’d regret. She’d still keep staring back, messaging him, ‘no, you’re not winning this so easily’.

Another new thing was the touches. No matter how hard Calypso would resist, they kept happening. When she’d hand Leo a plate to put back into the shelf after washing, their fingers would touch a moment longer than necessary. When she’d climb on a chair to get something from the top shelf of a cabinet (she was quite short so that happened frequently), he’d hold her to make sure she didn’t fall. She would pick up a fallen screw that had somehow ended up in the corridor just to get an excuse to give it to him and be able to feel his warm hand. Once she even caught herself claiming there was something in Leo’s hair just so she could ruffle it. He didn’t seem to have anything against that, though, instead giving her a knowing smile that sent sparks through her spine.

As if that wasn’t enough, Calypso was also more aware of how she looked in Leo’s company. Earlier she had not even given a second thought to wearing her pajamas or her balcony gardening clothes in Leo’s company. It had simply felt natural and he had never seemed to care about her clothes. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder if he thought her pink pajamas with bird prints looked silly or childish. To both her happiness and horror he did seem to like her working clothes, though. She had definitely caught him watching her intensely when she was bending over one of her plants in the balcony, wearing old, holed jeans, a dirty red T-shirt that was probably a tiny bit small to her, and a belt for her gardening tools. When he had noticed her looking back at him, he had blushed and mumbled something about ‘nice flowers’, quickly escaping into his room. 

The staring was not one sided: Calypso had to admit grudgingly that she had caught herself enjoying the view of him in his tank top and the work coveralls a bit too much. They may not have been the fanciest clothes ever and they were probably covered with sweat and all kinds of dirt from the machines but he seemed more relaxed in those. Besides, it did not hurt that the tank top left his arms bare, allowing her to admire how strong his arms were despite Leo calling himself ‘scrawny’. As a matter of fact, Calypso was convinced that Leo had started wearing the tank top more on purpose, like he knew the effect it had on her. What about her? Well, she may also have been switching to the red T-shirt after work more often as well, even though she would never admit that aloud.

After Leo had complimented her singing at the Halloween party (not that Calypso was entirely sure if he had been sarcastic or not), she had started humming songs she knew at home. Calypso had also asked him to introduce her to some of his favorite music, but it turned out their tastes were fairly different: Leo’s playlists went from Latino rap to old school rock, while she preferred something calmer. Musicians like Taylor Swift and P!nk were quite commonly on her playlist, but she had still impressed Leo once by rapping a song by Eminem surprisingly fast and clearly. He had just stared at her, saying ‘I didn’t even know you know such songs’ and Calypso had smiled at him smugly. Leo on the other hand refused to sing in front of her, claiming he was horrible, but sometimes Calypso wondered if that was a lie because when he tiredly murmured her a good night in a low voice before going to bed, she felt chills in the back of her neck.

Perhaps the most annoying change in Calypso’s life since the Halloween party was the new kind of dreams. Even during her teenage years when she had dated quite a lot she did not remember seeing dirty dreams, but recently, she woke up feeling frustrated a bit too often when she realized that in reality the things she had just seen in her dreams would probably never happen. She had even tried to talk about it to Piper who was not afraid of talking about her and Jason’s sex life, thinking maybe she could give her some advice on how to stop those unwanted dreams. However, when she had brought it up, Piper had just laughed.

“Goodness, Cal, just bone him already! I mean, ugh, he’s my friend so I’m gonna have to wash my mouth after this conversation, but really, it’s so painfully obvious you want to do it. Don’t think I didn’t see your faces when I interrupted you guys after the party.”

“I don’t even know what ‘boning’ means,” Calypso said with embarrassment, and Piper seemed confused for a moment before realizing she was being serious. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Calypso was indeed not a native English speaker. Besides, her vocabulary wasn’t quite up to date because she had not had a lot of contact with people of her age before starting at the university. Calmly, Piper explained that Calypso’s dreams probably meant that her physical attraction towards her flatmate was getting to the point that her hormones were messing with her mind while she was asleep, and the best way to get rid of those incidents was, well, to do the thing. Or, at very least, to admit her defeat and do something about her and Leo’s complicated relationship status. Calypso asked her if there really was no other way to get rid of the frustration, to which Piper noted that sometimes your own hand could be very helpful. After that Calypso dropped the topic, deciding to not ask for Piper’s advice any time soon. Whether she took her advice or not, that she wouldn’t reveal to anyone.

Unfortunately, as the tension between the flatmates grew, it also brought out their worst sides. Calypso felt she snapped for smaller reasons, for example if the TV remote wasn’t where she was expecting it to be, or if Leo had left a dirty spoon in the sink even though he had promised to do all of his dishes. She also felt more sensitive to the tinkering sounds that came from Leo’s room just when she was supposed to study for her exams. Leo, on the other hand, resorted to jokes more often than previously and was even more sarcastic than usual, and Calypso couldn’t help but think he was probably annoying her on purpose. He had even called her Mamacita once even though he must have known she didn’t approve of that kind of nickname.

After the issues had been going for several weeks, Calypso decided it was finally time to do something about it. One evening after finishing her dinner she sat down on the common area sofa, waiting for Leo to come back from his hobbies. She didn’t have to wait long; after swapping between different TV channels for around 10 minutes she could hear loud noise in the hallway as Leo threw his sports gear here and there.

“It’s a good thing you make that much noise when you come home, that way even the biologist guy on the top floor knows you’re back,” Calypso said sarcastically when Leo finally became visible. Leo crossed his arms, frowning at her.

“Nice to see you too, Sunshine,” he greeted. “I’m glad my return is much appreciated in the entire building.”

Calypso rolled her eyes. “I was being sarcastic, stupid.”

“Funny because I was being sarcastic too,” Leo replied. “About the nice to see you part.”

Calypso knew Leo was just trying to provoke her. Instead of continuing the argument, she sighed. “Ugh. I didn’t mean to start this conversation this way… I don’t know what got to me. Or…maybe I know but I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“I feel the same way,” Leo said, sitting down next to Calypso. 

“Either way,” Calypso continued, adjusting the hem of her shirt nervously. “You know how you said weeks ago that we shouldn’t let our… um, situation bother us. That we should keep living like we used to. But the thing is. I don’t really think it has worked. Not at least the way it should have. When we’re not flirting with each other, we are at each other’s throats. So… we should talk… about what we can do about it.”

“Yeah,” Leo agreed. “It feels impossible to find a golden mean with you. You’re infuriating like that.”

“I’m the infuriating one here?” Calypso’s eyes flashed angrily. “Listen, dear flatmate of mine, it takes two to…” She struggled to find the words to describe the situation. “To be in this mess. Don’t tell me you haven’t been provoking me this whole time on purpose.” 

“Relax, Sunshine. I didn’t mean it like that,” Leo tried to calm her down. “I don’t actually find you infuriating. I don’t mind our bickering. Often you open up much better about what bothers you when you’re a bit angry. But what I do find infuriating is that despite what you said earlier… you still keep sending these signals. One moment you stare at my arms or play with my hair or whatever and I think maybe you have changed your mind, and the next moment… you act cold again. I’m just damn confused because I like you but I don’t know what to think of any of this. So, if I’ve been annoying you, it’s because I want you to make up your mind.”

Even though Calypso was still slightly angry, she understood that he had a point there. She hadn’t exactly been innocent either when it came to the weird moments between them. Suddenly she realized that she was even wearing the red T-shirt Leo seemed to like again, having pulled it on after the shower without even thinking about it much.

“Alright,” she finally admitted her defeat, “I guess we can conclude we are both faulty here. We… are going to have to try harder to be as neutral as possible, otherwise this won’t work.”

“Yeah… Not saying it’s gonna be easy but I don’t want either of us to have to move out for such a stupid reason. We can totally behave, can’t we?” Leo nudged her on the arm.

“Leo…” Calypso growled at him.

“OK, I’m starting now. Promise,” he said seriously, raising his hands.

“Good. Me too.” Calypso nodded.

“And if it doesn’t work out?” Leo asked after a moment of silence.

Calypso hesitated. “I’d rather not think about that option… but we’ll figure something out. I think we owe each other that much.”

“Alright. That’s fair enough.” There was another pause before Leo continued: “Um, I know this is a bit of a bad timing considering what we just decided, but I’ve been thinking about the holidays. You’re not planning to go anywhere, are you?”

“No,” Calypso shook her head. “Where would I even go? Maybe if Piper or Annabeth or Hazel asked me… but they haven’t at least yet.”

That piece of information seemed to cheer Leo up a bit. “In that case, what would you say about coming to Waystation then? That way you wouldn’t have to be alone here. That wouldn’t sound like a fun Christmas to me, at least.”

“I don’t know…” Calypso said hesitantly. “You would be there… Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“In case you don’t remember, we are already living together,” Leo reminded her.

“Can’t argue with that logic, I guess” Calypso shrugged.

“I think it would be a good chance for us to get used to spending time together without having to be alone…” Leo argued. “Jo and Emmie are of course there and they often have lots of visitors during the holidays. So, plenty of people to hang out with. But above all, I’m sure Festus would love to see you again. And Georgina is still waiting for those baking lessons you promised!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Calypso nodded. “I did promise to teach her. So many of the things people promised to me when I was younger never happened and I know from experience it’s an awful feeling. I wouldn’t do that to her. Besides, I’d like to see Festus as well.”

“Is it decided, then?” Leo asked hopefully. “You’ll come with me?”

“I’ll reserve the right to cancel those plans in case I have a good reason to do so, for example if I get a better offer or if things get too weird between us. And we are going to have to set some ground rules, like no unnecessary touching, no sleeping in the same room, etc. But yeah. It’s decided. I will come.”

“You’ll see there won’t be a boring moment at Waystation. You’ll love it there!” Leo exclaimed happily (a bit too happily, Calypso thought, but she guessed she had to let him enjoy this small victory).  
“Well, that sounds great and all, but there’s one more thing,” she decided to remind him. “I want you to make sure your parents are OK with me coming there. Because I don’t want to do anything against their will.”

Calypso couldn’t help but feel like this was almost like a boyfriend bringing in his girlfriend to his parents’ home for the first time to be evaluated, but she didn’t say that aloud.

“And why would they have anything against me bringing in a friend? It shouldn’t be any weirder than Jason or Percy visiting there, right?” Leo asked innocently.

Calypso wasn’t sure how she felt about the comparison. “Um, there is the tiny thing that at least based on what you’ve told me you don’t have feelings for Jason or Percy. Or is there something I should know?” she teased.

“Alright, you got me this time. I can understand now why you think it might be weird. But I promise I will behave. Hopefully you will too.” Leo said, and Calypso rolled her eyes again. “And we’ll make it clear to them that we are definitely just friends. It will be fine, you’ll see.”

After considering it for a moment, Calypso decided it could actually be fun. Jo and Emmie seemed like great people and young Georgina had already wrapped Calypso around her finger. And Leo and she could really use some time to get used to acting like friends in an environment where they wouldn’t have to be alone. “Fine then. But will you at least let them know before I just arrive there without any warning?”

“No problem, Sunshine, will do,” Leo promised. “Emmie’s probably eager to meet you too, Georgina’s told her all about her visit here.”

“Really?” Calypso asked. “That’s cute. I hope I won’t disappoint them!”

“Nah, you won’t,” Leo reassured her. “Did I mention that Emmie grows some plants that are really rare and can even be used to cure minor infections and such? You’d probably love to see that.”

Calypso started getting more and more excited about the prospect of visiting Waystation. Leo kept ranting about what else she could find there, but Calypso’s mind started already wandering in the holidays. Teaching Georgie, spending time with the animals who lived at Waystation, seeing Emmie’s plants, meeting the new people… and of course hanging out with Leo in an environment where she hopefully wouldn’t have to worry about her father or anything else… That sounded like the best holiday she had ever had in her life. Not that she had much to compare it to.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me there,” she stopped his ranting, already breaking the ‘no touch’ rule for a moment by gently squeezing his wrist so he’d know she was serious. “I think you are right, it should be way better than spending the holidays alone here.” She smiled at him.

Maybe things were a bit complicated, but at least they would be able to try to figure it out together.


End file.
